Punishment
by SammyMisteri
Summary: When Invader Tess accidentally shoots an Irken rubber band at Tallest Red, her punishment is to be sent to help Zim conquer Earth. The only problem is, she just can't stand Zim! Will they conquer Earth? Or will Tess be stuck with Zim forever?
1. The Great Assigning

**Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own Invader Zim, but it'd be cool if I did, wouldn't it? And by the way for all you IZ FanFic Authors out there still writing disclaimers, Jhonen isn't the only one who owns Zim. Nickolodeon does. But I think Nickolodeon is blind, deaf, and stupid for cancelling Zim. So there. Not much of a disclaimer, but oh well. :P**

**Author's Note: Yo! I'm new to this, so gimme a break. If I make any spelling/gramatical errors, please say so! Thanks! Oh, and review? Pleeeease? If you don't I'll explode! And die! And then I'd loose major part of my life! And then I can't write, so ha! And-*Random Audience Dude stands up* SHUT UP AND START THE STORY ALREADY! ~me~ Alright, alright. I'm goin'! *kicks him in shin and runs away* I'M NORMAL!**

Chapter 1: The Great Assigning

It all started at the Great Assigning on the Irken convention planet Conventia. I was one of the very few female Invaders that were chosen… well, actually, I'll just leave it at one of the very few female Invaders period.

I was there early, considering my home planet, Irk, is only a few light-years away from Conventia, and with the new light-speed program I installed in my Voot Runner, it was a snap.

I was cleaning out my Voot that day and found a wankton shoon—or, I guess if my Irken-English noun translator is correct, a super-stretchy, black, tar-textured rubber band—and was playing with it as I sat on the floor waiting for all the Invaders to arrive.

I figured out that it was stretchier than most wankton shoons, and was trying to see how far I could shoot it. Just as I was about to release it, Invader Spleen, the last Invader to show up, made his usual egotistic grand entrance.

I stood up, getting ready for my assignment, and acknowledged him by giving a slight nod.

Invader Tenn, my best friend since we were Smeets-in-training, nudged me and nodded to the ceiling, which had a giant round thing of some sort with smoke coming out of it lowering into the center of the stage.

"Must be the Tallest," she whispered.

I nodded and sighed as I stood up straight, trying to be as tall as possible. This was going to be broadcast to the entire planet Irk and its territory-planets, and I was a little nervous.

Tenn stood up as tall as she could manage without being too uncomfortable and took a deep breath. She let it out, and by the choppiness in it, I could tell she was just as nervous as I was.

The Tallest hovered out of the pod while lasers shot in every direction. They whispered to each other while they waved, and Tallest Purple was hit in the eye with a laser. Tallest Red said, "See?" as Purple lay curled up on the floor in pain.

As soon they started the ceremony, I zoned out and started playing with my wankton shoon. They said pretty much the same things when they proposed Operation Impending Doom 1—things like, "You are the finest examples of military training the Irken army has to offer! _Good_ for you" and "these less superior than us, but still _quite superior soldiers_…"

Once they started calling names of Irken Invaders, I tucked the wankton shoon in my pocket and listened to the Assigning.

They started by calling Invader Larb, one of the worst Invaders known to Irk. They complimented him on his increased height, and assigned him to planet Blorch—home of the slaughtering rat people—but changed to planet Vort, home of the universe's most comfortable couch.

"Yes!" Larb cheered as he ran off to the equipping station.

Next was Invader Spleen, an abnormally tall-headed boy that we all thought would grow up to be the Tallest when we were Smeets-in-training.

I sighed. This was going to be one of the longest ceremonies the Tallest have ever hosted.

After Invader Spleen was assigned, the Tallest started calling all the other Invaders and assigning them to our enemy planets. Tenn and I were one of the last.

Finally, Tallest Red called Tenn up to the stand. She took a deep breath and hurriedly ran up to the Tallest.

"Sirs," she said kindly as she bowed her head slightly.

"Invader Tenn," Red started as he smiled in delight. She was his favorite Invader. "You have been assigned to planet Meekrob—home of the most intelligent life forms in the known universe."

She looked at the picture the Irken artist drew. It showed her being surrounded by floating blue-ish forms and shaking their hands.

She let out the breath she was holding, as she smiled and realized that she didn't get planet Blorch, but got the one planet she wanted most.

She grasped the slip Purple gave her for a moment as she took in all the tension in the air. Everyone, including the Tallest, would be counting on her—and all the Invaders, for that matter—to conquer her assigned planet so we, as Irkens, could be the supreme rulers of the entire universe.

Tenn stood behind Red and watched the rest of the Great Assigning.

There was a small commotion at the entrance to the main convention hall, that no one really paid attention to, as the Tallest called my name.

"Invader Tessa," Purple said, letting my unusual name roll off his tongue. "Please come up."

I took a strained breath. This was my moment! I walked up the pod.

"Sirs," I muttered as I bowed politely.

Purple smiled. I was always his favorite, even when we were both just Smeets. "Invader Tess," he repeated, this time calling me by my nickname.

I stood up tall and smiled a little as I said quietly, "I'm ready."

Red handed me my slip as he glared at me. He always hated me for being Purple's favorite. "You have been assigned to planet…" he paused for a moment and then said in disgust, "planet Kloog—home of the shape-shifting Kloogainians."

I grinned. I was always fascinated by the Kloogainians.

I walked to Purple and stood behind him to watch the rest Great Assigning. There was really no need to go to the equipping station until the Tallest got there.

Next was Invader Skoodge, one of the shortest Invaders in all of Irken history.

"Oh, now that's just sad," Red said as he shook his head.

"Could you get any shorter?" Purple called to him.

Skoodge looked sad as Red assigned him to Blorch, home of the slaughtering rat people.

"Thus concludes the Great Assigning!" Red said to the audience. "Help yourselves to some nachos, and we'll see you at the equipping station."

"Yes, gorge yourselves! You mooches!" Purple said.

"Wait!" a voice called from the front row.

"That voice…" Tallest Red and Tenn said at the same time. "No…"

"It can't be!" Tallest Purple and I said together as a very familiar Irken crawled up onto the stage.

"Zim!" we all said together.

Zim stood up and walked over to us. He bowed to the Tallest. "Sorry, I'm late, my Tallest. I couldn't find my invitation. You're lucky I even made it at all," Zim said as Skoodge backed away slowly, then ran to the equipping station.

I rolled my eyes. None of us wanted Zim there, _especially_ not the Tallest.

"You weren't _invited _at all," Purple said as Invader Tenn and I walked over to the equipping station together. We picked up some nachos along the way, and knew the Tallest would get rid of him one way or another.

We started talking quietly about everything bad Zim has done in the past—Horrible Painful Overload Day 1, Horrible Painful Overload Day 2, ruining Operation Impending Doom 1, hopefully not ruining Operation Impending Doom 2.

I stuck my hands in my pockets as we were walking and realized I still had my wankton shoon.

I leaned in close to Tenn and whispered, "Why don't we shoot this wankton shoon at Zim?"

She laughed and agreed. "Okay, but do you think it'll shoot that far?"

We turned around to look at how far we were from Zim. He had a sandwich in his hands and was talking to the Tallest in an almost pleading tone.

"It's shooting distance," I told Tenn as I nodded approvingly.

So we stopped and kneeled on the cold floor as Red started hovering toward the edge of the holographic universe.

He pointed to a spot off the edge of it and hovered back to Zim. Zim looked sinister as I got ready to shoot the wankton shoon.

"The universe! Will be ours, for the taking!" Red announced to the audience. Then he said, "Oh, and remember!" he muttered something, presumably "Lasers," through his teeth and a laser shot Purple in the eye again.

Then, Red started hovering behind Zim as they started walking toward us. I pulled the wankton shoon back and aimed and as soon as I let go, Zim spun around on his heel, quickly said something to the Tallest and bowed.

Instead of hitting Zim as it should've, it hit Red—hard—in the eye.

"AHHH!" he shrieked as he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap of pain. He recovered quickly and sat up to look around—with one eye—for what hit him. He found the wankton shoon and glared in my general direction.

"Who shot this at my _eye_?" he asked furiously as he stood up.

I grinned sheepishly up at him as I raised my hand a little. "I did," I said quietly. "It was an accident," I said, louder.

He hovered toward me and said, "Do you think this is funny? Shooting a wankton shoon at your _leader_?"

"No," I angrily shot back. "I was aiming for Zim!" I shouted before I could stop myself.

The audience cheered.

I covered my mouth in horror as I realized what I had just done. I looked past Red to look at Zim. He looked hurt, that his old friend was aiming a powerful wankton shoon at him.

I mouthed, "I'm sorry," to him but he turned away.

Tallest Red grabbed my arm and threw me at the guards. "Take her to jail. This is assault against the Tallest! You could get life in prison for this," he added, looking straight at me.

I glared at Red before the guards tackled me to the ground. _This won't be fun, _I thought after I fell.

Tallest Purple watched me being dragged by the guards to the temporary holding cell on Conventia. They would ship me back to Irk or to the Massive after the Great Assigning.

I hung my head in shame as I glanced toward the audience. They were trying to contain their laughter as one of the "quite superior soldiers" was being dragged away to jail after assaulting the Almighty Tallest.


	2. Jail and Punishment

Chapter 2: Jail and Punishment

I was thrown in a temporary holding cell on Conventia as I awaited my transfer to the jail on the Massive, where the Tallest would convict me of my "crimes" and give me my punishment.

As soon as the Great Assigning was over, the Tallest boarded the Massive, and so did I.

I waited for three whole Earth months until the Tallest finally decided on a punishment. In jail, I was threatened and shoved, but never seriously injured. The biggest fight I got in was with a male Irken in the cell next to me over the best apple in the cafeteria, and I won by my incredible strategic mind.

When the Tallest finally came to a decision, I was handcuffed and literally carried by my arms and thrown on the ground in front of the Tallest.

I stood up and asked the guards who did such, "Is that any way to treat an almighty Irken Invader?"

They just laughed and said, "You're not an Invader anymore, honey," as they walked away.

I scoffed at their insolence and looked up at the Tallest. Tallest Red had a swollen eye from where I hit him, and Tallest Purple had a slightly swollen eye from where the lasers hit him. Red glared and Purple stared sadly.

Red started. "Tessa—,"

I cut him off saying, "_Invader_ Tessa, if you don't mind, sir. I didn't go through a hundred-fifty-nine years of hard Irken training to not be called by my title. I've earned it, and nothing you _or_ Ido can change that, _sir_."

He glared at me and was about to continue, but was cut off again, this time by Purple.

"_Invader _Tess," he began. "You hit Red in the eye with a wankton shoon," he said slowly.

"It was an _accident_," I repeated for about the hundredth time, moving towards him with my hands still cuffed behind my back. "I was aiming for _Zim_!"

"Whether it was an accident or not, it still happened, sweetie," Purple said kindly.

"Well, can't I just say 'I'm sorry', be forgiven, and we all move on with our lives? I've got a planet to conquer!" I said furiously.

"Tess, honey, relax," Purple said calmly.

"How can I _possibly_ relax when I, an all powerful Irken Invader, was thrown in jail for three months awaiting punishment for something that wasn't even meant to _happen_?" I looked away as I blinked back tears. "Why won't anyone believe me?" I asked quietly.

"I _believe_ you, Tess," Tallest Purple said softly as he floated over to where I stood.

"If you did, you wouldn't have let me get thrown in jail!" I shouted at him.

"I'm sorry, Tess," he said, still calm.

"Don't apologize to _her_!" Tallest Red cut in. "She shot me in the eye with a wankton shoon, _remember_?"

"Yeah, well, you shot me in the eye with lasers! Twice!" Purple angrily shouted at Red.

"_I _didn't." Red crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"You made it _happen_, though," I irritably pointed out.

"This isn't of your concern," Red impatiently spat at me.

"Of course this is of her concern!" Purple said, standing up for me. That was the Purple I knew.

Tallest Red and Purple got in a heated shouting match and eventually noticed me, watching them, enjoying every second only because they each had their own lame comebacks.

Tallest Purple stopped in the middle of a sentence to irritably say, "Get her out of here," as he pointed to me. He paused for a moment, and then said, "Feed her something."

One of the guards turned to him and said, "But sir, lunch isn't until—,"

"Feed her something!" Purple shouted at the guards.

"Yes, sir," they groaned as they lifted me up by my arms and shoved me into the door in the direction of the cafeteria.

I screamed as I tried to stop from slamming into the door. When I did, I passed out for a few moments and heard Purple call, "Gently!" as soon as I came to.

The guards sighed and let me walk there without getting pushed forward or shoved into anything.

When I finished eating my early lunch, the guards brought me back to the Tallest, who had reached their decision on what to do with me.

Red looked triumphant, standing tall looking out at the stars, while Purple looked like he was crying, sitting in a chair by the controls, his eyes slightly pink around the edges.

Purple saw me walk in, still handcuffed, and smiled miserably. "Tessa," he started slowly as he wiped tears from his eyes.

I knew immediately that it was going to be bad. Not only does Purple never cry, but whenever he calls me 'Tessa' he always has bad news. I swallowed, waiting to hear I was going back to prison. I closed my eyes and waited.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We've decided to send you to Earth to help Zim."

**Author's Note: Sorry this chapter's so short. I... well, I really have no excuse for that. I just made it short. So... doo dee doo dee doo... I'M NORMAL! *runs away quicky* **


	3. Violet and Kleeshoon

Chapter 3: Violet and Kleeshoon

"What?" I shouted. "What?" I repeated in disbelief. "Me? Help _Zim_? What the…?"

"I'm sorry," Purple said. "I…he hit my soft spot. Hard."

Still in disbelief, I looked to Purple. "You… You gave _in_?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated, standing up slowly. "I tried, I really did, but—,"

"I won!" Red proudly interrupted, still looking out at the stars.

I cursed under my breath. I looked back up to Tallest Purple and Red. "I _hate_ Zim! I hate him as much as you two do! I've always taken your sides on things, my Tallest. How could you do such a thing?"

"Now you can hit him with wankton shoons without me getting in the way," Red said sarcastically.

I glared at him and said, "So how long must I stay with…" I shuddered. "_Zim_?"

"For as long as it takes to conquer the Earth," Purple said quietly as he hovered over to me and unlocked my handcuffs.

I stared in disbelief. "You mean… you want me to conquer Earth with _Zim_? How can I do _that_? He's _Zim_, for crying out loud!"

Red laughed sarcastically and was about to say something but was cut off by Purple.

"You leave tomorrow morning, just after dawn," Purple said, changing subjects.

I glared in disgust. "Do I even get a SIR unit?" I asked mockingly.

"Yes, but we ran out of fully-functioning ones," Purple told me.

"Great," I muttered. "A malfunctioning SIR unit." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

Red floated over to a little box off to the side on the main area where the Tallest usually hover. He pulled out a little SIR unit and called, "Hope you can catch!" as he tossed it to me.

Purple caught it for me and glared at Red as he set it on the ground.

I stared at the little SIR unit, which wasn't all that different from a regular one—except that it had a full head instead of a little indent around the eyes that circled the head, and instead of red light bulbs, it had orange ones. I stood there for a moment, deciding if I should bring it with me and fix it up, or just leave it behind and be lonely on the trip to Earth.

I looked up at Tallest Purple questioningly. "Its lights are orange," I half-stated-half-asked.

"We ran out of red lights, and that was the closest color we had. Sorry," Purple shrugged it off.

We were quiet for a few moments, until I declared "It doesn't work," as we looked back down at it.

"It was working earlier…" Purple said, mainly to himself. He floated around the SIR unit and kicked it a few times.

It came to life as soon as he kicked it for the third time. It stood up and greeted us with a small wave. It seemed a little shy. "H—hi," it said.

"Hey there, little guy," I said, bending down to its eye level.

"I—I'm a girl. I think," it told me. "My name's Violet."

I smiled. 'Violet' was a nice name for an orange robot. "Hello, Violet. I'm Tessa, but you can call me Tess." I stuck out my hand for her to shake.

"Hi Tess!" she shouted in my face. "You can call me Vee!" she grabbed my hand in both of hers and shook it up and down violently.

She grabbed my curly antennae and yanked my head down. "Ouch!" I yelped.

"Your eyes are pretty!" she yelled. "They're very blue!" She stopped yanking for a moment to say, "Blue is an odd color for Irken eyes, right?"

"Yeah, it is. Now let go of my antennae, it's starting to hurt," I said as I ripped my antennae out of her hands.

I held them in between my fingers and curled them back again. "Ouch," I moaned again. "My antennae feel like they were attacked by the one-eyed Gasqueed-a-splooch…"

Purple laughed light-heartedly. Red just laughed at my shear pain.

Violet screamed and ran around in circles.

We all watched her do this for a while until finally I got sick of it and picked her up by her little antenna. She was surprisingly light. "Vee, _please stop_."

She looked at me and grinned. "Okie dokie!"

I gently set her on the ground and let go of her antenna. She looked around for a moment and asked, "Where's my Kleeshoon? I want my Kleeshoon!"

I gave a confused look and asked, "Am I hearing her right? The Kleeshoon is a water-breather back on Irk, right?"

Purple laughed again. "No—well, yes, but—the one she's talking about is the plush animal we gave her when she wouldn't shut up."

Red pulled a purple, snake-like creature with wings out of the box and tossed it to Vee. She picked it up and hugged it tightly. "I missed you, Klee!"

As angry as we were at each other, we all laughed half-heartedly at that very moment.

**Author's Note: Okay, well, no hurry or anything... but review please? I mean, I know this is my first story and I posted three chapters in a row... but review? PLEASE? *bangs head on keyboard waiting for people to read and review* I'M NORMAL!**


	4. Earth and Zim

Chapter 4: Earth and Zim

The night before I left, I gathered what few items I had in my cell—a change of clothes, some boots (of which I absolutely hated), and my long-distance hand-held communicator.

I put everything in my Voot Runner as I prepared for my trip. I managed to get a hold of new tools and all the standard Irken Invader equipment I would need.

The morning I left, I walked to where Tallest Red and Tallest Purple hovered as I bid them farewell. "I'm going to leave shortly," I said.

"Finally," Red muttered as he rolled his eyes and looked away.

Purple and I glared at him. Then Purple looked to me and said quietly, "I'm going to miss you."

"I know," I stated simply as I walked up the steps to the Tallest's main area. "I'll miss you too," I added as I stood in front of him.

At that moment, Tallest Purple did something he would never have done to another Irken no matter who they were. He hugged me. He just reached out and pulled me close. Thankfully, I was tall enough for my head to be resting on his stomach.

"I'm going to miss you," he repeated. I suppose he was trying to get used to that fact that I was going to be farther away from him then I've ever been.

"I'll miss you too," I said again, this time truly believing it. "I'll miss you too."

As soon as the time on my PAK said "6 AM," I put a sleeping Vee, with her Kleeshoon, in my Voot Runner and started our journey.

"Computer," I said, talking to my Voot. "Run a diagnostic. Is everything fully functional?"

"Diagnostic complete," my Computer said in its feminine voice. "Everything is fully functional."

"Good. Now," I said typing in the word 'Earth' in the route-creation program. "Find the quickest route to Earth."

Computer made a few beeping noises as it drew a route from the Massive's current position in the Sector 9 Delta to Earth. "Route calculation complete."

"Lock onto route. Start trip."

"Command confirmed. Launch sequence initiated. Flight in 3… 2… 1…" We took off. The vibrations of leaving the Massive's gravitational pull shook Vee awake.

"G'morning, Master!" she greeted me as she rubbed her eyes (which made no sense because she's a robot). "Where are we going?"

"To Earth, Vee," I told her as I turned to look at her sitting in the backseat. "We're going to Earth."

"Why?" she inquired.

"We…" I paused for a moment. "We're going to help a friend."

"Who?"

"My old friend, Zim."

"Awww…" she moaned. "This'll be boring for me, won't it, Master?"

"Not necessarily," I hesitated, thinking that Zim would probably have gotten a SIR unit too. "He has a friend waiting for you."

"Really?" She happily jumped from the backseat and landed on my head.

"Yes, now get off my head," I said, picking her up and setting her on the seat next to me. "Computer, what is our estimated time of arrival?"

"Estimated time of arrival… calculating… calculating… six months."

"Six months? That's the quickest route to Earth?"

"Yes, I just said that," my Computer stated, clearly trying to mimic sarcasm.

I was about to say something, but my Computer cut me off. "Proximity warning," it told me. "Approaching wormhole."

"A wormhole? Computer, what is a… 'wormhole'?"

"It is a shortcut through time and space."

"A… shortcut? Even we, as advanced Irkens, have not yet come up with such technology. May we go through it and leap to Earth, Computer? Do you think?"

"Uh…" my Computer hesitated. "I suppose it is possible…"

"Then let's go through it!" I said gleefully.

"But, ma'am—,"

"She said do it!" Vee shouted at the Computer.

"Okay…" Computer redirected the route so we went through the wormhole.

We entered the wormhole and nothing major changed. Just that we jumped through space and landed somewhere closer to Earth.

When we got close to the Earth, Computer said, "Proximity warning. Planet ahead."

"Computer, analyze the dominant species. I believe they're called 'humans'. Choose simple disguises for both Violet and I."

"Initiating command." The Computer started showing pictures of these 'humans' and their natural habitat. "Disguises chosen," Computer said after a few moments.

"Show me what you've chosen, Computer," I said as a picture of me and Violet popped up on screen.

On my picture, I had a simple brown wig, with ends that flipped out a little and some humanoid contacts that still showed my natural eye color, blue. I grinned as I noticed Computer had changed my shoes from standard-issue black boots to white high-tops. On Vee's picture, she had a zip-up cat outfit that was a soft pink color with little black pointed ears that curled down slightly and black nubs for hands and feet.

"Good fashion choices, Computer," I said after a moment.

"Approaching planet Earth," Computer said.

"Computer, lock onto Zim's house."

"Command confirmed. Looking for 'Zim's house'. 'Zim's house' has been found. Locking onto 'Zim's house'. Prepare for landing."

I grabbed Vee and sat her in my lap. "Ready?" I asked. She nodded.

It was dark around us as we started fall toward Earth's surface. We zoomed above houses and people until we came close to Zim's house.

The Voot gently touched down in the backyard. "Computer, give us our disguises," I whispered trying not to draw too much attention. My wig and contacts came out of a little slit by the controls and my shoes slid silently out from under the keyboards as Computer said, "Command confirmed."

"Quietly, Computer!" I scolded softly. "Vee's disguise too, Computer," I added after a moment.

"Many apologies. Creating Violet's disguise right now," Computer whispered back. After a moment, her zip-up cat outfit slid into my hands.

"Here, Vee. Put this on," I softly told her.

"Okie dokie!" she whispered as she ripped it out of my hands and stepped into it.

I put on my wig and contacts as she zipped it up. "How do we look, Computer?" I asked quietly as ripped my boots off and slid into my new shoes.

"Good," Computer whispered back.

"What time is it on Earth, Computer?" I asked as the sun started to rise.

"Seven-oh-two."

"Good, Zim should be up by now." I opened the Voot's top and stepped out. I took a deep breath. "Computer, analyze oxygen levels."

"Oxygen levels normal."

"Good," I said. I stretched and yawned. "Vee, get out here."

"Yes, Master! I obey!" She stepped out of the Voot and ran around in circles.

I sighed. "Computer, disguise the Voot. It may stay here for a while."

"Processing… processing…" The Voot projected a hologram of a giant pig.

"Now that's just stupid," I remarked to myself.

"Master, can I meet my new friend now?" Vee asked as she stopped running in circles and sat in the grass.

"Not yet. In fact, get back in the Voot and stay quiet. I need to take care of some unfinished business before you can meet your new friend," I told her.

She silently saluted me and dove head-first into the pig's mouth.

I sighed as I started toward the front door. I stood gawking at the door for a moment. It had 'Men' written in a triangle near the top of it. I shook my head, making a mental note to fix that.

I stared at the door bell, deciding whether or not I should use it, or just simply knock—but before I could do either, the door opens and who do I see standing there?

No, not Zim. A little green dog with black ears and black nubs for hands and feet.

_Zim's SIR unit,_ I thought.

"Hi there!" it yelled at me. It seemed stupider than Vee.

"Um, hi. Is Zim here?" I asked, looking past him into Zim's base. Surprisingly, he did a pretty good job making it look nice.

"Mhmm," it stated. "MASTER!" it shouted behind him.

"What is it now, Gir?" an annoyed Zim asked, coming up from the toilet. "I want to finish my experiment before schoo—," he stopped short as he looked at me.

"Master?" the little green dog asked. "Are you okay? You look pale."

Zim ignored—what did he call it? Oh—_Gir _as he asked, "Tess?"

I nodded slightly.

His mouth hung agape. "Why… how… wha… when…? Um…" he stuttered.

I sighed. "It's a long story, Zim," I said as I walked past Gir into the living room. "And I'm sorry."

"For what?" Zim asked, stepping out of the toilet and into the kitchen.

"For trying to shoot you with that wankton shoon a while back," I said as I sat on the couch.

"Oh, that. I forgave you a long time ago for that," he said. It was unusual for Zim to say or do such things, but he always had his moments.

He walked through the kitchen and into the living room. He stood in front of me as he continued. "What are you doing here? Visiting the ALMIGHTY ZIM?" he asked, making fists and shoving them up in the air as he said his name.

"I'm not _visiting_ you, Zim."

He flinched as I said his name.

"I'm here to help you."

He crossed his arms disbelievingly. "Why? Do you think Zim needs help conquering a simple planet? Do you? DO YOU?" He shoved his face in mine.

I pushed him away from me. "No, I… I was sent by the Tallest," I said, daring no more.

"But _why_?" Zim inquired.

"I…" I couldn't bring myself to say it—that this was my punishment. "They… they thought you might want companionship?" I winced and closed both eyes as I held my breath, knowing he would almost surely see through the lie.

"That…" he hesitated. "That's very nice of them," he said quietly.

**Author's Note: Sorry if there were any spelling/gramatical errors in this chapter! If there is, tell me, please! I was up LATE finishing this one because I wanted to know what would happen. Isn't that sad? When the _author_ wants to know what happens next in her own story? Oh well. I _am_ normal, ya know. I'M NORMAL! *looks over shoulder* Did anyone hear that? Or was it just Joey? I'M NORMAL, I SAY! NORMAL!**


	5. Skool

Chapter 5: Skool

Zim sat next to me on the couch. We didn't talk for a while, and just watched Gir run around and scream a few times.

Zim looked up at the clock on the wall. "Oh my Tallest! I'm going to be late! The Almighty Zim is _never_ late!" he said excitedly as he jumped up from the couch.

"Wait, what are you going to be late _for_?" I asked, following him as he ran to the kitchen.

"School!" he called as he grabbed his contacts and wig from the fridge.

"Why is your disguise in… oh, never mind," I said, shaking my head. "And why are you going to… 'school'?"

He put his disguise on. "Because if you want to blend in with the humans, you must act like a normal human worm-baby."

"Okay… Well, should I come?" I asked as I followed him out the door.

"That'd be a great idea!" Zim said, spinning on his heel to face me. "That way you can look like any other normal human smeet."

"I don't think they're called smeets, Zim," I told him as we started running.

"They're not. But they don't understand what a 'smeet' is," he said as we neared the school facility.

We ran in silence for a moment, and then Zim slowed to a fast walk as we entered a run-down building with the word 'Skool' written on it.

I slowed down and walked with him into the structure.

He stopped at a desk with a very bored-looking woman sitting behind it playing with her thumbs.

"Um, excuse me filthy human!" Zim said to the lady.

"Yes…?" she asked, drawing the word out and not looking up from her thumb war.

"I would like to register my… my…" he stopped to think.

"His third cousin twice removed on his mother's side," I cut in.

"Yes," Zim continued. "What she said. For school," he finished.

"So?" said the lady, clearly determined to not do her job.

"May I please get registered for school?" I asked, starting to get irritated.

She sighed. "Alright… What's your name and age," she asked picking up a pencil (I think that's what it's called) and started writing something on a pad of short paper.

"Um… My name is Tessa and I'm…" I paused for a moment, trying to decide on the age I would look to a human, because I certainly wouldn't look sixteen.

Zim nudged my arm a little and whispered, "Twelve," to me.

"Twelve," I repeated to the lady.

She sighed again. "You're in Ms. Bitters' class. Enjoy," she said as she handed me a pass.

"Um, thanks," I told her as Zim and I started to walk away. "Zim," I asked.

"Hmm?" he said, clearly not paying much attention.

"Do you know where Ms. Bitters' class is?"

"Yeah," he said, turning down a narrow hallway. "You're in my class."

I followed him into a classroom full of students. There was a student with black hair and a slightly larger than normal head standing at the front of class saying something about aliens and Bigfoot.

Zim quietly slid into his desk by the door as I walked up to the teacher and handed her my slip.

She slithered over to where the large-headed boy stood and told him, "Dib, sit down."

"But Ms. Bitters—,"

"Now, Dib!"

"Yes ma'am…" Dib groaned as he sulked back to an empty desk by the windows in the front row.

"Now class, time to meet a new addition to the dead weight of society, doomed to failure—Tessa. Tessa," she addressed me. "If you would like to say something, say it now and after that, I don't want to hear another sound out of you," she said as she slithered back to her desk.

"Hello, everyone!" I said as I smiled widely. "I'm Tessa and I—,"

"Go back to your seat now," Ms. Bitters hissed at me. "Your cheerfulness disgusts me."

"But," I said looking around. "I have no seat. There's nowhere to sit."

She pointed to a kid chewing on his foot next to Dib. "You," she said. "You're going to the Underground School." She pushed a button on her desk and the kid went screaming down under the floor. "I never liked that kid anyway," Ms. Bitters mumbled to herself. Then she said, "So anyway, you're all doomed… doomed… doomed…"

I winced as I sat down. I could still hear the kid screaming from under my desk. I took out a notebook from my PAK and started doodling as Dib, next to me, started staring at me with his mouth hanging open. After a full minute of this, I finally looked at him and quietly asked, "What? Why are you staring at me?"

"You… you're… uh… huh…?" he stammered.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to my doodling. Before I knew it, I was doodling Zim getting eaten by the one-eyed Gasqueed-a-splooch. I sat up straight when I realized what I was drawing. "Oops," I muttered. "That wasn't meant to happen."

**Author's Note: Please review! I know there are a lot of people reading the story, but so far, I only have two reviews! So as of this moment, I'm more writing this for myself than you people just because I have all these ideas for the story that I want to get out of my head. So please review! And if you want anything special to happen, say so! I might just add it... :P I would end this author's note with 'I'M NORMAL!' but there's really no need to because I said nothing very random. Oops, just did. So, I'M NORMAL! I guess. :P**


	6. Dib

Chapter 6: Dib

Ms. Bitters went on for hours, saying how we were all 'doomed, doomed, doomed.' I just zoned out and kept doodling.

Then the lunch bell rang. My head snapped up as I looked around at the other students pushing and shoving each other to get out the door. The only people left in the room were me, Zim, and Dib.

Zim collected his items and walked over to me. He sat on the empty desk next to mine as he said, "Ready?"

"For what?" I asked, looking to him. "What's happening?"

"Lunch," Zim said, glancing to my doodles of him being attacked by numerous things.

I covered the sketches as casually as I could and said, "Right. Lunch," I repeated.

I stood up and gathered my notebook as I glanced to Dib, still sitting in his seat, watching me and Zim. "What, Dib?"

He stared blankly for a moment then asked, "Are you two related?"

I glanced to Zim and nonchalantly replied, "Yes, we are. Why do you ask?"

"Because I can see the resemblance," Dib said as he stood up and collected his things.

I shrugged it off and followed Zim to the cafeteria. "Ugh," he groaned. "Pickled fish and rice day," he said as he noticed the menu.

We went through the line together and sat next to each other at an empty table.

"What _is_ this stuff?" I asked Zim, poking at what was on my tray. It started twitching.

"It's what the humans call 'food'," he responded, watching the grayish blobs start walking away from us.

I shivered. Food on _Foodcourtia_ was better than this—and that was really saying something.

Dib sat down across from us. "Hello, alien scum," he greeted us.

"What the hell, Dib?" I irritably asked him. "I haven't…" I hesitated, trying not to blow our cover. "I mean, we aren't aliens."

"Of course you are. You both are," Dib said as relaxed as can be. "It's all too obvious—I mean, really? You _really _think a wig and some contacts can fool great minds like me?" He poked at his food. "What kind of 'advanced' race _are_ you, anyway?"

The end-of-lunch bell rang. I ignored Dib's question and threw my food away. I could eat something later.

I walked with Zim back to class. We slid into our seats and resumed 'listening' to Ms. Bitters go on about how we were all still 'doomed, doomed, doomed.'

I started drawing again. This time, I was drawing Dib's giant head getting eaten by the one-eyed Gasqueed-a-splooch.

As soon as I started drawing the tail to the 'splooch, I felt a little tickle on my arm. I realized it was a piece of paper that had been neatly folded up and been tossed to my desk. I looked around and saw Dib, watching me intensely.

I pointed to the note and pointed to him. He nodded. I pointed to the note again and then pointed to myself. He nodded for a second time.

I opened up the note and stared blankly at the words. I vaguely remembered the human's English alphabet and started trying to pronounce the words in my mind.

_If you don't mind,_ I read slowly. _Please come to the East side of the building after school._

I glanced to Dib, who was still watching me. I started writing back to him in Irken. I cursed under my breath as I started erasing and tried to write in English. _I'll be there._

**Author's Note: Okay, I'm sorry this is so short. I'm sooooo tired and a little annoyed that, after all my requests for reviews, I only got two people to do so. So thanks, to my four reviewers! Luv ya! I love you so much... *sobs* I'M NORMAL! Why won't anyone believe me? (:P)**


	7. Plush Animals

Chapter 7: Plush Animals

As soon as the final school bell rang, I picked up my notebook and stood up. I walked past Zim and out the door as I heard him call, "Hey! No one leaves the Almighty Zim!"

I started walking faster as I turned down the main hallway that leads to the front doors. Soon after I came to the doors, I heard Zim's footsteps quicken and rush down the hallway.

I bent over to 'retie' my shoe as I glanced under my arm. Zim was a few steps behind me as I stood up.

"Hey!" Zim said again, standing next to me. "You left me!"

"Yeah, and your point?" I asked as I looked up to the sun, trying to decide which way was 'East'.

"No one walks away from the All Powerful Zim!"

"Well," I said as I decided it was to my left. "I just did," I said as I started walking in that direction. "I just need to pick up a few things."

Zim stared after me with an uncertain look on his face while I smiled and waved behind me. After a moment, he chased after me.

"Tess!" he said. "Wait up!"

I spun around as he ran into me. "What now, Zim?" I asked as I pushed him off of me.

"Uh… um…" he stuttered. "Uh… do you… know your way… back to my base?"

"Yeah, I think I can make my way back," I responded. "And if I forget where it is, I'll ask… oh _crap_!"

"What?"

"Vee! I left her in the Voot," I said, starting to remember.

Zim gave me a confused look and asked, "Vee…?"

"Violet, my SIR unit," I replied, not really paying attention. "I hope she didn't damage anything," I muttered.

"Oh," Zim said after a moment. "I guess I better go back to base and check on Gir. He probably already broke something by now," he remarked as he sulked away.

I watched him go, turned around, and kept walking. As soon as I rounded the corner to the school building, I noticed Dib, leaning with his back against the wall.

As I came up to him, he pushed off the wall and stood up straight. "Hey, Tess," he said as he shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you," I said as I watched him, playing with his hands. "Yet," I added as I teasingly grinned.

"Ha-ha," Dib said timidly.

"So, what do you want?" I smiled, even though I was annoyed and wanted to get back to Vee.

"Um… just…" he stammered. "Are you an alien?" He winced.

I stared at him curiously. "I'm not saying I am, but what would you do if I told you I was?"

"Nothing. I just want to know."

"_Right_…" I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously," Dib said as he dropped his hands to his sides. "I won't do anything to you. Yet," he added as he grinned.

I laughed. "Well I'm not an alien."

"But it's so _obvious_!" he said, starting to get irritated. "I just want to know for myself that I'm not crazy. No one will believe me anyway," he added, scratching the back of his neck. "Please tell me if you're an alien. I won't tell anyone."

I knew that it was wrong—that it might blow our cover—and knew almost certainly that Dib would tell everyone I said so, but I shrugged and nodded. "Yes, Dib, I'm an alien. But it's not what you think," I added softly.

"How would you know what I think?" Dib asked. "Can you read minds or something?" he asked, starting to get a little jittery.

I laughed and said, "No, but that'd be pretty cool."

He smiled as he relaxed a little. "Thank you," he said as he started walking away.

I smiled a little as I watched him go, thinking to myself, _What the _hell _did I just _do_?_

I arrived as Zim's base as fast as I could find it. I went around the side of the house to my Voot, still disguised as a pig. "That's still stupid," I murmured as I opened the pig's mouth and looked inside.

"Vee?" I asked. "Vee?" I asked louder. She wasn't inside. I sighed as I pulled my head out of the pig and walked back to the front of the house. "Didn't I tell her to stay in the Voot?"

I opened the front door and slid inside. Zim was sitting on the couch watching television while Gir played with a pink, rubber piggy and Vee with her Kleeshoon.

"Violet," I irritably said.

She slid across the floor to my feet. "Yes, Master?"

"Didn't I tell you to stay in the Voot?" I asked as I looked down to her, slowly getting up.

"Yes…" she said as she stood in front of me. "But Gir came and asked me to play!"

I sighed. "Whatever," I shrugged it off as I sat down on the couch next to Zim.

Zim looked bored, watching a show with an angry-looking monkey standing on screen and occasionally growling.

"What are you watching?" I asked happily as Gir and Vee ran out through the kitchen.

"_The Scary Monkey Show_," Zim muttered. "I hate this show," he added.

"Then change the channel," I said as I reached over and grabbed the remote from his hands.

"There's nothing else on."

I ignored him as I started flipping through the channels. "_The Dave and Donna Show_… _Karen, the Three-Footed Child_… _The Top 100 Students in the World_…" I started reading off the names of the shows. "Yeah, there's nothing good on tonight," I told Zim as I handed back the remote.

"Told you," he said as he stood up and stretched a little.

"So," I said, getting up too. "What is our plan for world domination?" I asked, changing subjects. "Or do you even have one?"

He turned to me and frowned. "You think _Zim_ wouldn't have a plan for world domination?"

I ignored him, trying to avoid a fight. I walked over to the kitchen and looked in the fridge for something to eat. "Why don't you have any food?" I asked Zim.

He shrugged as he followed me into the kitchen. "It's all down in the lab where Gir can't find it."

At that moment, Gir ran in holding the plush Kleeshoon, being chased by Vee, holding the little pink piggy.

"Speaking of Gir…" I said as I closed the fridge.

"Give it back!" Vee shouted at Gir.

"You first!" Gir shouted back. He lunged at Vee's feet, which she narrowly avoided.

"No!" She shouted as she ran into the living room. "I'm not giving Piggy up until you give me Klee!"

Gir tackled Vee to the ground and they rolled around trying to hit each other as they yelled to give their plush animals up.

I irritably walked over and stood in front of them. "Vee, get off of Gir."

"Not until he gives me Klee!" she called as she punched Gir in the face.

"That hurt!" Gir said as he punched her back.

"Ouch!" she cried.

They continued to fight as Zim walked over. "Gir! Off, now!"

"No!" he responded angrily.

"That's it," I said as I walked over to them. "Stop it," I said as calmly as I could as I picked both of them up by their antennas.

"Give me Klee!" Vee yelled at Gir as they dangled above the ground.

"Give me Piggy!" Gir shot back. They started arguing again, trying to lunge at each other as I held them apart.

"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" I yelled at them.

They quieted down and glared at each other, angrily holding the animals close to their chests.

"Now," I said, closing my eyes and counting to ten. "Drop the animals."

"Not until he gives me Klee!" Vee repeated.

"Not until she gives me Piggy!" Gir said at the same time.

"NOW!" I requested furiously as I opened my eyes.

They both dropped the plush animals.

"Good. Now do you promise not to steal each other's animals again?" I said as I put Gir dangling above his and Vee over hers.

They both nodded.

"Good," I said as I dropped them next to their animals. They both grabbed them and hugged them so hard I thought the heads would pop off at any moment.

I sighed, walking past a bewildered Zim into the kitchen again. "What, Zim?" I asked as I looked through the cabinets. "A-ha!" I said as I spotted a little juice box at back of a corner cabinet.

"How… how did… how did you…" he stuttered in amazement.

"Spit it out, Zim," I said impatiently as I sat down at the table with the little juice box.

"How did you get them to…" his voice trailed off.

"Sit still?" I laughed as he nodded. "I don't know. Instinct, I guess."

He jumped up on the table and pointed in my face. "YOU LIE!"

**Author's Note: Sorry this wasn't a very exciting chapter. It's kind of just a filler chapter as I get ready for the big points! :P ...Ummm... still nothing random... so... um... I'm abnomal? *smiles innocently as she thinks of a good way to end an Author's Note* REVIEW! _Got it! _*smiles as she runs away***


	8. Broken

Chapter 8: Broken

Zim and I went down into the underground lab to start coming up with a better plan for world domination than what Zim already had—to unleash a swarming torrent of 'deadly' mosquitoes among the population.

We stepped out from the elevator and walked to the big screen in the main lab. "Computer," Zim said.

"Yes?" it asked with its slightly masculine voice.

"Bring down the snacks," Zim said. "Do it now," he demanded quietly.

"Yes, Master," his Computer said as it pulled down some cabinets and opened them up.

"Let's see here…" I said as I pushed past Zim and to the cabinets. "Chocolate… soda… A-ha!" I said as I pulled out an Irken sandwich and started attacking it.

Zim looked at my sandwich with longing as he started drooling a little.

"Zim," I said. "You know you can have one too, right?" I asked as I grabbed another one from the shelf and tossed it to him.

He caught it and ate it quickly.

I finished eating and took off my disguise. "So," I said to Zim. "What's our plan?"

By the time I gave up on making a plan with Zim, it was already time to go to school. I threw my disguise on and stepped into the elevator as it started to creep up the shaft.

"Elevator," Zim said, slipping into it. "Go up to the house."

"Yes, Master," Computer replied as it zipped up to the first level as spit us out of the toilet.

"ACK!" I shrieked as I shot up into the air and came plummeting down to the kitchen floor. "Ouch," I whimpered as I stood up slowly.

Incredulously, Zim landed on his feet. "You get used to it after a while," he said as he walked into the living room.

Zim called, "Gir!" as I followed him.

"Yes, Master?" Gir said, popping his head out of a large pile of taco wrappers in the middle of the living room floor. Vee soon followed.

"Find my disguise," Zim said, oblivious to the pile-o-wrappers.

"Yes, sir!" Gir said as his light blue eyes turned red and he saluted. He stood up as his eyes turned blue again and started shuffling through the wrappers until he came across Zim's wig. He kept digging until he found one contact lens and then the other. Gir handed Zim his disguise as he said, "Here you go, Master!"

Zim ignored Gir as he put on his disguise. "Let's go," he said to me.

"Vee," I said as I followed Zim out the door. "Don't break anything. That goes for you too, Gir," I added after a moment.

Zim and I walked quietly for a while. Then a man came along talking into a hand-held device, somewhat resembling an Irken communicator, that was saying, "Yeah. … I know! I would just _die _without my cell phone. … Uh-huh. … I know!"

Zim started laughing evilly as the man passed.

"What?" I asked.

"I've got an idea," Zim said, interrupting his laughter. "We use a giant magnet to pick up all the cell phones in the world! And, like that human meat-sack said, everyone will die!"

"That…that's just stupid," I said quietly. "It's just an expression, Zim."

Zim ignored me as we hopped up the steps to school. He got to the front door first and walked through it, shutting it in my face.

I sighed angrily as I opened the door and slipped inside. I irritably walked past Zim and found my own way to class.

I sat down in my seat and resumed yesterday's drawings. Zim slid into his seat just before the first bell rang.

"I don't believe you children understand how doomed you all are," Ms. Bitters told us. "The universe will eventually collapse in on itself and crush you all. So you are all doomed…doomed… doomed…"

When the lunch bell rang, I gathered my notebook and beat it out the door. Zim quickly followed and caught up to me. We walked to the cafeteria in silence, until Dib walked by with a rather large, bulky child by his side.

"Hello, alien scum!" Dib greeted us once again. I guess that was our new nicknames.

"What, Dib?" I said, irritably as we all walked through the door to the cafeteria.

"I'd like you to meet my friend, Torque. Torque," he said, referring to the child standing by him.

He grunted in response.

"Zim," Dib said evilly, somewhat like the end of a sentence, as he pointed to Zim.

Torque waddled over to Zim, picked him up, and threw him toward the opposite wall of the cafeteria, all while Zim said, "Hey! What are you doing—AHH!"

Zim slid head-first across the tables in between us and the wall, getting cafeteria food all over him and the kids sitting there, laughing their heads off. He managed to turn to his left just before he hit the wall and therefore side-slammed it as his PAK flew off.

"Zim!" I cried with sympathy. I might not be able to stand him, but I can't help feeling sorry for him. I rushed over to him, lying almost unconscious on the floor.

Dib laughed harshly and walked over to us as I kneeled by Zim. "Zim?" I asked worriedly. He stirred at my voice, causing some blood to pool onto the cold tile floor.

Dib continued to laugh hysterically like it was the funniest thing in the world. I stood up and punched him in the face. "Shut up!" I said angrily to him as I walked back to Zim. I examined the damage, not entirely knowing what I was looking for.

You see, back in my Irken military training, I had to study Irken medical procedures due to the fact that female Irkens were meant to become nurses to help wounded soldiers. It wasn't until I achieved my nurse's degree did the Tallest pass the "Female Civil Rights Act" where female Irkens were allowed to be whatever they wanted, so I decided to become an Invader, still having knowledge of the medical field.

Zim's arm bone had ripped through his skin and stuck out of his skin. It was in an easy enough position that I could heal it in a matter of days. I slowly laid his arm out straight and held it as I carefully rolled Zim over. He let out a yelp of pain as I laid his arm back down by his side.

"It's okay, Zim," I said calmly. "You'll be alright," I told him as I looked at his face. It had a few cuts from where he hit trays on the way over. He moaned as I touched the deepest cut, about an inch deep, on his chin.

"It's okay, you'll be alright," I kept repeating soothingly as I manually dug through my PAK, trying to be inconspicuous by not using the automatic function. I pulled out some emergency bandages I carry with me at all times and I gently wrapped up his arm as he groaned in pain.

"You jerk," Zim whispered almost inaudibly to Dib.

"Shh," I shushed him. "Don't talk," I said as I tried to clean up the cuts on his face best I could with my limited supplies.

He stayed quiet for a few moments and then started slowly gasping for air. "Can't… breathe…" he said between gasps.

"What's wrong?" I asked, upset. "That shouldn't happen!"

"My…" Zim struggled for breath. "PAK…" he said as his non-injured hand went up to his now empty back and started convulsing, causing new blood to soak his arm bandages.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, as I jumped up and looked around. I eyed his PAK sitting by a cafeteria table and grabbed it.

"Don't worry," I said calmly as I gingerly rolled him over and reattached his PAK. "There," I said as he took as deep breath.

He exhaled and said quietly, "Thanks."

I laid him down slowly and glanced to his shirt, with a side darker than the rest. I took a double take and lifted his shirt a little to reveal a spot that was a slightly darker green, suggesting some of his ribs were bruised or broken.

I tenderly took his shirt off. I moved his arm a little to see the complete damage. The entire left side of his chest was a little darker than the rest of his skin and slightly swollen. "Ooh," I remarked, and noticed Dib standing behind us, watching.

I ignored him as I rearranged myself and Zim so he was somewhat propped up on my knee. I started wrapping up his chest tightly so he had limited movement and thus wouldn't hurt himself more.

I finished dressing the wound as the lunch bell rang. I put his shirt back on and he took shallow breaths as I helped him up. We had to get home so I could do x-rays on his chest to make sure his ribs weren't broken.

He walked slowly and yelped in pain each time he tried to take a regular breath. "Can we go back to base?" he whispered to me.

"Yes, Zim," I told him quietly. "Let's go home."

We managed to get to the front desk and I had a long discussion with the lady sitting there about whether or not we could go home.

I finally gave up trying to reason with her and just said, "Come on, Zim. We're leaving," as I grabbed Zim and dragged him out the door.

When we got home, Vee said, "You're home early!"

I told her that we had something important to do and need not be disturbed when we're in the lab.

She nodded and resumed telling lame jokes with Gir.

I helped Zim into the elevator and said, "Elevator, bring us down to the medical room."

"Voice not recognized," it told me.

"Oh, sorry," Zim said. "Elevator, this is Tess. Listen to her." He looked like he was about to pass out from talking.

"Command confirmed," it said as it zoomed down and threw us into the medical room.

"You really need to get that fixed," I said as I stood up and helped Zim to his feet.

He smiled a little and gave a small nod as he started walking. He just barely made it over to the x-ray machine before he collapsed with exhaustion.

I looked to him with sympathy as I booted up the machine and started taking x-rays of his chest.

"Nothing seems to be broken," I remarked to myself. I walked back over to Zim and pulled him up to lean on my shoulders. He obviously couldn't walk by himself without collapsing every few feet.

I managed to get him over to the bed where a doctor would perform check-ups. I set him down and held his arm in my hands. I slowly started to unwrap the blood-soaked bandages on his elbow as I told him, "You'll be okay, Zim."

A faint smile tugged at Zim's lips, but was erased by the pain in his arm as I turned it over in my hands. "Ooh," he whimpered.

"Sorry," I said as I cleaned up the dried blood on his arm as gently as I could.

He bit his lip, trying not to whine.

"Now," I said softly. "You're going to need stitches," I said as I dug around the equipment center to find the sterile string and needles. I found them and came back to Zim, with a pained expression on his face. He closed his eyes and took a semi-deep breath as he nodded.

I took a deep breath too, getting ready for something that I've only ever practiced on a dummy. "Okay," I said airily as I sat down next to him and held his arm in my lap. I put the string through the needle and started the complicated task at hand.

Next thing I knew, I was done with the stitching with blood stains on my pants and an unhappy Zim next to me.

He let out a breath I didn't know he was holding and asked, "Are you done yet?"

"Yeah," I said and I slid off the bed to grab some more bandages. "With the stitches," I said as I grinned and started wrapping his elbow in them. A corner of his mouth curved upward, but was outweighed by the distressed look the rest of his face provided me.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry I haven't posted much lately! I've been SUPER busy with school and whatnot. But I made up for it with an extra-long chapter! YAY! So review? PLEASE? Okie dokie! I'M STILL NORMAL!**


	9. Sleep

Chapter 9: Sleep

I slipped Zim's shirt off again and unwrapped the bandages tenderly. He was incredibly thin, about as thin as me, and very muscular for some reason. I shrugged it off and used two fingers to push gently on each rib, trying to see where I should wrap tighter or looser depending on how much pain he was in.

He flinched at the fifth rib, which was probably where it hit first.

"That hurts?" I asked him. He nodded as I grabbed more bandages. "Sit up straight," I instructed. He sat up straight. I began dressing up the wound again, making sure to tighten the wrapping around the fifth rib. He winced.

"Incoming call," Computer interrupted.

"From who?" I asked, still holding the roll of bandages as I looked up.

"The Massive," Computer replied.

"Ooh!" I said, jumping gleefully. "The Tallest are calling, Zim!"

He simply nodded as Computer displayed the image up on the big screen.

"Tess?" Tallest Purple asked, with Tallest Red eating donuts in the background.

"Hey!" I called, waving with my free hand.

He smiled. "You made it to Earth safely then?"

I nodded, jumping up on the bed Zim was sitting on and switching hands to hold the bandages. "Sure did!"

Purple's expression turned from happy to confused as he noticed Zim sitting behind me. "What are you...?"

"Oh, he got thrown into a wall today," I said casually.

Red said nothing the entire time, but now he started laughing hysterically, choking on donuts until some other Irken coaxed him to stop laughing. Finally calming down, he said, "I mean… that's horrible."

Purple was holding down the giggles too as he said, "Yes, too bad."

I smiled with my back turned to Zim. "He broke his arm and bruised some ribs. I'm fixing it now, so it's kind of a bad time to call," I said.

Purple grinned and nodded. "Now aren't you glad you had to go through nurse training?"

I laughed. "Yep," I said as I hopped off the bed and continued to wrap Zim. "So how are you?"

"We're good," Purple responded. "Nothing much has happened since you went to Earth," he said, trying to be careful with his words; trying not to let any information slip.

"That's good," I said, not having a lot of things to say. "Tried any new foods lately?"

Purple shook his head. "Nah, not a lot of time to. What with the invasion and all."

"How _is_ the invasion coming?" I asked, trying to create small talk.

"Good," Purple said, in deep thought. "Invader Skoodge was the first to conquer his planet."

I stopped wrapping and looked to the screen in shock. "Skoodge? _Skoodge_? The _first_?"

"I know, incredible isn't it?" Purple looked down and shook his head.

"Yeah," I said, turning back to Zim, who also stared at the Tallest in shock. "Well, I guess I'd better go," I suggested.

"Okay," said Purple as he smiled a little. "Good bye, then."

"Yes, Invader Tess and Zim, signing off," I said as we saluted and disconnected.

I finished wrapping up Zim's chest as I muttered, "I can't believe _Skoodge _was the first to conquer his planet," to myself. I tucked in the end of the strip and patted his side a little. Then I cleaned up the cuts on his face and put some of my homemade herbal healing potion on them. "Done," I said, as I smiled.

He smiled a little too and slowly got off the bed. He put his blood-stained shirt back on and walked slowly towards the elevator as I hovered over him asking, "Are you okay to go to school tomorrow?"

He got to the elevator and said, "I guess I could go to school. But I'll need to get the Dib-meat back for this," he added quietly.

I laughed light-heartedly. "I bet we can work something out," I said as I followed him into the elevator. "Elevator, bring us to the house, please."

The elevator zipped up to the house, but didn't shoot us out this time. Instead, it climbed slowly up out of the trash can. The late afternoon sun hit us as we stepped out and walked toward Gir and Vee.

Zim stood tall, warming his cold-blooded skin against the warm Earth sun. As I watched him walk to the window and take in the deepest breath he could manage in the sunny fall day, I realized how different Zim was from other Irkens—and not just by the way he acted, but the way he looked.

Even in pain, Zim looks strong and humble; his eyes, unlike anyone else's, contain an endlessness to them that make it seem like he's seen everything in the universe, yet an innocence that makes it seem like he's seen nothing at all.

When his antennae are blown in the wind, they curl up slightly and then come back to normal. When he stands tall and the sun shines in his eyes, he doesn't look away, but instead embraces it.

And at times when he looks to you, you can forget about the world around you completely and fall into Zim's hands—oh, those hands with pointed fingers in little black gloves that are almost exactly like yours. _Sometimes, he's so handsome and loveable, _I thought. _Do I love Zim? No, I can't. I mustn't. _

"Tess?" Zim was impatiently asking, pulling me away from my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked, trying to focus on him without the detours. "What were you saying?"

"You should've been listening," he said, irritably walking off.

I watched him for a moment and then turned to Gir and Vee. "What'd he say?" I asked them.

Vee shrugged and said, "Something about school tomorrow."

"Yeah—if he should go," Gir chimed in.

"Oh, okay," I said as I chased after Zim, starting to get back in the trash can.

"Wait," I said, pulling on his good arm to stop him from getting fully in. "I think you should rest, and we'll see how you feel tomorrow."

He stared blankly at me for a moment and then said, "Okay," as he resumed climbing into the can. I soon followed, and down we went, back to the medical room.

I fluffed up a pillow for him and tried to make the bed somewhat comfier as he made his way over.

He hopped into the bed and sighed. "I haven't slept in _ages_," he said quietly.

"Me either," I whispered, more to myself, as I eyed two blankets on the other bed. I grabbed one and threw it above Zim for it to float for a moment and then land softly on top of him. He stirred a little after it landed, and then dozed off in a matter of moments.

I turned out the lights as I jumped into the second bed and covered myself with the second blanket. "Me… either…" I repeated as I slipped into the subconscious world.

I woke up heavily panting and in a cold-sweat, with the lights on and Zim's good arm tightly wrapped around me, saying over and over again, "It's okay, it's okay."

"What…what happened?" I asked, still thinking about my nightmare.

"I don't know," Zim said irritably. "You started screaming a few minutes ago, which woke me up, and you wouldn't shut up so I tried to calm you down."

I pushed his arm away from me. "I…I had a nightmare," I said sitting up. "It…it was about…about…"

"About what?" he asked, still irritated that I woke him.

"About losing the… the people I… I love, I think," I said, still struggling to make sense of it.

In my nightmare, I was sitting in a field of soft purple grass, only found on Irk of course, surrounded by many people radiating out from me—and the closest to me were Tallest Purple, Violet, Invader Tenn, and Zim. Beyond them were other Irkens that I know—like Invaders Skoodge and Larb, and even Tallest Red. And I was so happy to see them all together, but then, one by one, they started to disappear. Just—BANG—gone. Everyone I liked was gone and the only people left alive were me and everyone I hated—like Dib and Ms. Bitters—and they took me prisoner and forced me to be their slave to do their dirty work, like cleaning toilets.

Zim climbed into his own bed and said, "Yes, yes, that's fascinating," as he yawned and turned out the lights and fell asleep.

I sat up for a few minutes before I decided not to go back to sleep and to get up instead. I stood up slowly and realized I was still wearing my blood-stained pants. "Oops," I muttered. _If I still have these on, does Zim still have _his_ on?_ I thought.

I walked quietly over to Zim's bed and pulled the blanket down a little to reveal he still had his bloody shirt on. I silently sprinted to the elevator and whispered, "Elevator, bring me to Zim's clothes floor thingy…?"

"Okay," Elevator whispered back and brought me up a level. I stepped out and shuffled around in the dark until I found the light switch and flicked it on. I let my eyes adjust and found rows and rows of little dressers.

"Wow," I whispered in awe as I walked to the first one. I opened the first drawer, and saw that it was pants. I looked down to my own pants, decided I might as well borrow his instead of going out to the Voot and getting my other ones, and took one out. I shook it loose of its tight little fold and checked the size. "Perfect!" I exclaimed quietly as I changed out of my bloody pants into clean, fresh-smelling ones.

I dug through the rest of the drawers. When I found shirts, I checked the size again—still perfect—and changed into a new shirt. I grabbed another shirt and some pants for Zim.

I went back to the elevator and whispered for it to bring me back to the med room. I tip-toed back to Zim and pulled the blanket off him, hoping he would wake up. When he didn't, I shook him a little and whispered, "Zim?"

When he still didn't wake up, I shook him harder and said, "Zim!"

He woke up with a start. "Huh? What _now_?" he asked after he realized it was just me.

I threw the clean clothes at him and said, "I was just trying to be nice."

He looked down to the clothes in his hands using what little light the Earth's full moon offered.

"Umm… thanks, I guess," he said as he slipped out of bed to change. I turned around to give him some privacy, and he managed to get his shirt and pants off, but getting the clean ones on was harder. By counting the thumps on the floor, I guessed he tripped and fell four times with his pants before he asked, "Tess?"

"Yes?" I asked kindly as I spun on my heel and walked toward him.

"Would you mind helping me?" Zim asked from his little spot on the floor.

"I don't mind." I helped him to his feet and let him lean on me for support as he pulled his pants up with his one good hand. He sat down on the bed and said, "Thanks."

He lay back in bed and as soon as I got to the elevator, he was out like a light.

In the morning, about an hour before it was time to go to school, I stepped in the elevator and went down to the medical room. "Zim," I called sweetly to him as I stepped out of the elevator.

He stirred a little but didn't completely wake up. "Zim," I repeated as I sat next to him in the bed. "Wake up. It's time to go to school," I said as I gently stroked one side of his face with my thumb.

He muttered something but still didn't open his eyes. "Zim," I said a little louder as I pulled the blanket off of him.

He rolled over on his right so his back was facing me and said quietly, "I don't want to go to school."

I turned around and rested my arms slightly on his left side. "But I need you to be awake for what I'm about to do," I told him.

He moaned. "What is it this time?" he asked harshly, still not opening his eyes.

"I need to check your ribs and elbow," I said, slightly rolling him back over.

He opened one eye to peer at me. "Why?"

"To check if you _can_ go to school," I said as though it was the most obvious thing in the worlds.

He sighed as he sat up. "Fine. Just be quick about it."

I got the supplies ready while he tried to wake up a little more. "Okay," I said. "Let me see your arm."

He held out his left arm to me and yawned a little. I studiously unwrapped the slightly bloody bandages and checked the stitches. They seemed fine, nothing to fix—until I noticed a faintly darker spot above the first stitch. "What is _that_?" I muttered to myself, turning Zim's arm towards me.

"What?" he asked, clearly not very interested.

I ignored him and grabbed a little surgical knife. I made a small incision to the right of the spot to confirm my suspicions. I was right. The bone, when it ripped through the flesh, had chipped a piece away and severed a small vein to his hand. _No wonder he couldn't get his pants up last night_, I thought.

He was distraught that I was making another cut on his arm. "What are you doing?" he asked hastily.

"Sorry," I said as I grabbed a cloth to suppress the bleeding. "I was checking something."

"What were you checking?" he asked looking up at me. "What reason could you _possibly _have to cut me?"

I sighed, still holding the cloth up to his arm. "You have a severed vein," I told him as I moved his right hand to the cloth to hold it in place.

"And?" he asked as he gripped the already bloody cloth.

I grabbed an antibacterial cleanser, a sterile needle, and some string as I said, "You need surgery to fix it."

"Oh," he said as I walked back to him and he eyes flickered away from me. "Why?" he asked as he looked back up.

"I can't just glue it back together, Zim," I said as I removed his hand and the cloth. "I actually need to perform a full-on surgery to repair it."

"Oh," he repeated. He stayed quiet while I cleaned the cut and started to sew it up.

As I finished, I told him, "We're going to stay home today."

"Okay," he said without hesitation.

"You're having surgery."

**Author's Note: Um… review please? I have over **_**four hundred**_** visitors to the story but only twelve reviews… but thanks to everyone that did review (love you people. You give me so much encouragement!)! And **_**special**_** thanks to my continuous reviewers *cough cough* Zim'sMostLoyalServant and *cough* TheInvader *cough cough* Man, I really need to get my cough checked huh? *cough* I'M NORMAL! AND NOT SICK!**


	10. Surgery and Syndromes

Chapter 10: Surgery and Syndromes

I started by calling the school and acting like our mothers, saying that we both had fevers and had to stay home. I then enlisted Gir and Vee to help with the tricky task of fixing a broken vein.

"I've never had surgery before," Zim told me before I hooked him up to an IV of mild sedative.

"Neither have I," I told him, as I rubbed numbing oil on his right arm, where I would insert the medicine.

"Yes, but you're not getting surgery," he pointed out. "You're performing it."

_Which I haven't done either,_ I thought. "True," I said aloud. "Ready?" I asked, referring to the sedative.

He nodded and played with his hands nervously. I slipped my free hand in his while he looked up, a little confused. _I've never had surgery before, _his voice echoed in my head.

I smiled slightly and inserted the IV needle in his vein. "It'll take a few moments to pull you under," I said.

He nodded, sighed slightly, and closed his eyes. "I'm ready," he said quietly, just like I did at the Great Assigning, when I was assigned to planet Kloog.

He squeezed my hand, as the medicine would have started to sink in. His head seemed to bob back and forth slightly as he slipped into sleep. His grip on my hand loosened as he fell completely under.

"Okay," I said breathily. "Let's get started," I said to Vee and Gir.

About three hours later, I had finally managed to fix what I could. It shouldn't have taken that long to actually align the parts of the vein so it could heal by itself, but I was taking precautionary measures; and not just because I was inexperienced, but because I had two crazy little robots running around distracting each other and myself.

I had made some Irken herbal glue that would dissolve when the vein started to repair itself. I put it on the vein so the pieces wouldn't separate, and sewed up the skin. I started to clean the blood up when Vee and Gir tackled me to the ground.

"Vee… Gir…" I growled angrily as I stood up.

"Yes?" they asked innocently.

"Don't tackle me while I'm performing surgery!" I shouted. I paused for a moment holding my forehead in my hands.

I looked up and they both had tears welling up in their eyes. "I'm sorry," I said as I turned back to Zim. "I didn't mean to shout."

"IT'S OKAY!" Gir shouted as he and Vee ran off to play somewhere else.

I sighed and I finished cleaning Zim's elbow, wrapped it up in bandages, cleaned all my supplies, and put them back in their places. As I was going find Gir and Vee to make sure they didn't break anything, I felt Zim's eyes watching me.

I turned around to look at him and his were open slightly. "Hey, sleepy-head," I said quietly as I walked back to him.

He smiled weakly. "Hey, Tess," he said.

I sat on the edge of his bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," he remarked. "Tired and hungry, actually."

I laughed. "I'll get you a sandwich," I said as I started to get up.

He caught my arm to stop me and said, "I don't want a sandwich. I've been eating those since I got to Earth."

"Okay…" I said, drawing the word out. "I'll _make_ you something then. What do you want?"

"Um… how about some soup? Maybe…" he said, thinking. "Some… I don't know. Something."

_The sedative hasn't completely worn off yet_, I thought as I made my way to the elevator and up to the kitchen.

I sighed, trying to think I what I wanted for lunch. I went through the kitchen looking for something to eat, and when I finally came across some taco shells in the cabinets, and some meat and vegetables in the fridge, I smiled.

I started making tacos, when two shiny, metal robots came up to me with two little stuffed animals. "Yes?" I asked sweetly without looking up.

"Ma… Master?" Vee asked. I could sense the sadness in her voice.

"What?" I asked, crouching down to their level. They had tears in their eyes again.

"You…" Gir started. "You're…"

"I'm what?"

"YOU'RE EATING OUR TACOS!" Gir shouted, breaking into tears.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, patting his back. "I'll get you some more, don't worry."

"O—okay…" Gir said as he wiped a tear from his eye and walked off with Vee.

I stood and continued to make my tacos. They came back a minute later and tackled me again, sending some meat pieces flying. "Oh, come on!" I said as I looked at the mess we made.

I sat on the floor cleaning up my mess. I tried to wipe some of the meat off my—er, _Zim's_—shirt, and noticed it had already stained. I groaned as I walked past Gir and Vee laughing playfully on the living room floor and out the front door to my Voot—still disguised as a stupid-looking pig.

I dug through the cabin, looking for my extra clothes to change into, instead of using Zim's. I brushed up against the control panel just as I found them and I suppose it was asleep, waiting for me to come back.

"Seven missed transmissions," Computer said to me.

"Seven?" I asked, looking at the screen. A list of calls showed up and, sure enough, the first seven were labeled 'missed'.

I scrolled down to see the callers. "All from planet… Meekrob? Who do I know on planet Meekrob?" I wondered aloud.

Suddenly, a screen popped up showing a picture of Meekrob as Computer beeped at me. "Transmission from planet Meekrob," Computer said, overlapping the beeps.

"Umm… Answer, I guess," I told it. A transmission screen appeared and, by my surprise, Tenn was standing there looking very worried.

"Tess?" she asked wearily.

I smiled. "Hey!"

She smiled from ear to ear. "You're alive," she said, sighing. "I heard from Spleen the other day that you got out of jail and I wanted to make sure you weren't dead or something."

I grinned at the news. Invader Spleen was always the kind of guy to spread around these things. "Yep," I said. "I got out of jail. And I'm clearly not dead, now am I?"

She laughed and looked down to the clothes in my hands. "Umm…"

I glanced to my outfit and the clothes. "How about I call you back…"

"Sure," she laughed.

"Oh!" I said, remembering something. "If you get a call from Zim, answer it."

"What?" Tenn asked, confused. "But… I don't want to talk to Zim. I want to talk to you!"

"I'll explain everything in a few minutes. Just answer Zim's call!" I said as I hung up.

I ran inside the house and changed clothes quickly. Not knowing what to do with the meat-stained ones, I threw them to the side and ran to the elevator, hurriedly telling it to bring me down to the main transmission floor. I jumped out and dashed to the screen. "Computer, connect to Invader Tenn."

"Sure," it said as it linked to Tenn's computer. "Contacting Invader Tenn now."

"Umm…" Tenn appeared on screen. "Tess?"

"Hello again," I said as she looked to me.

"Umm…" she repeated. "Zim's house…?"

"Yes, Zim's house," I said.

"But why?"

I explained to her about my punishment for shooting that wankton shoon at Tallest Red. The only part I didn't tell her was my supposed feelings for Zim.

When I was done, she looked shocked. "How… how could they…"

"I know," I said, nodding. "How could they send me here, right?"

"Wow," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "That really sucks."

"Yeah," I said. "So, anything interesting with you?"

"No, not really. The Meekrob here are really nice, actually. Too bad I have to destroy them."

"I know, that's—" I was cut off by the Computer.

"Someone approaching front door," it told me.

"Umm…" I said, turning my attention back to Tenn. "I guess I'd better go now…"

"Yeah," she said. "I guess so…"

"So bye!" I clicked the transmitter off and went to the elevator. "Elevator, take me up to the house."

"Sure thing!" It zipped up to the house and spat me out of the toilet again. I landed awkwardly on my leg so I stood up slowly and grabbed my disguise off the kitchen table.

"Ouch," I moaned as I put on my contacts and wig and half limped to the front door.

"Hello," I said as I pulled the door open.

A somewhat tall girl with blonde hair and a green outfit on stood before me with a bouquet of flowers in her hands. "Hello," she repeated back to me. "Is Zim here?"

I started recognizing her from school. She was in an older grade, and I noticed her after school getting in a car with other small, human children. "Yes," I replied. "But… he's not available at the moment. I'm taking care of him right now."

"Oh," she said, playing with the flowers in her hands. "Well, can you give him these—wait a minute," she said as a look of recognition skimmed her face. "Aren't you Tess?"

"Yes… how do you know me?"

"My little sister told me about you. Actually, she told me about Zim too. Which is why I'm delivering these flowers from her," she added quickly.

I accepted the flowers. "Umm… thanks."

"Are you two related?" she asked curiously.

I forced a laugh. "Just barely. _Very_ distant cousins," I added, which wasn't all that far from the truth.

"Well," she said, thinking. "Do you like him?"

"_Like_ him? How so?"

"Like, _love_, I suppose," she said after a moment of silence.

I thought for a minute. "Well, I have sympathy for him. I mean, he _was _thrown into a wall. But I guess you could say I kind of like him in that way," I said as I looked up at her. "Why?"

"Florence Nightingale Syndrome," she said, ignoring my question. "You have Florence Nightingale Syndrome," she repeated, nodding in some kind of agreement.

"Florence… Nightingale Syndrome?" I asked. "Who is Florence Nightingale and why do I have his syndrome?"

She laughed and smiled as she said, "She. Florence Nightingale was a girl. I did a report on her when I was younger. She was a nurse from _way _back when, and her 'syndrome' is commonly portrayed in movies when doctors fall in love with their patients."

I stood in the doorway for a moment, absorbing all the information she gave me. _When doctors fall in love with their patients,_ her voice echoed in my head. "Oh," I said quietly. "Nightingale Syndrome."

"Nightingale Syndrome," she repeated in conformation, nodding her head. Her pocket started vibrating. "Oops, gotta go. See ya around, Tess!" she called as she ran off past the fence and down the street.

"Yeah," I said as I closed the door. "See you around," I added as I leaned against it and slid to the floor.

**Author's Note: Yo peoples! I just wanted to clear something up for some people that didn't get it in the beginning… *cough* Veronica *cough* A wormhole is a portal through space and TIME, and therefore Tess arrived after Zim did. So anyways… thanks to everyone that reviewed after all my requests! And, in case anyone didn't know, I've been allowing anonymous reviews, too. So… um… review? THANK YOU! OMT SILLY BAND GETTING SHOT AT MY COMPUTER! No, dad… don't aim here… Ugh. Thank you, dad. Really helpful. I'M NORMAL! Er, **_**WE'RE **_**NORMAL! **


	11. Lifeclocks

Chapter 11: Lifeclocks

After a minute of sitting on the floor against the door, I stood up, walked to the kitchen, and resumed making my tacos. When I finished, I brought a couple to Zim, who had fallen back asleep.

_Oh well, _I thought. I sat the tray down by his bed and went back up to eat my own.

When I got back up to the kitchen, I found Gir and Vee had stolen my tacos and were eating them. I sighed, laughing, as I watched them eat vigorously.

"Gir, Vee," I said, trying to make my voice seem at least a little stern. "You ate my tacos!"

"Sorry, Master! We didn't _know_ they were _yours_…" Vee said, pretty convincingly, but it was probably true.

I sighed again. "I'll just go get some from a fast food place thingy… What are those called here? Restaurants, too, right?"

Gir nodded. "Yup! There's a Krazy Taco on MacMeaties Street!" It never ceased to amaze me how he could remember _that_, but not that those were my tacos.

I got directions from Gir (of all people), put my disguise on, and followed very explicit instructions—turn left on MacMeaties Street and trail the Krazy Taco signs.

I ordered a lot of tacos, a couple for me, the rest for Gir, Vee, and… well, their storage. I ate on the way back, and walked through the door, full stomach, while throwing tacos to Gir and Vee.

I licked my fingers and stepped in the trash can/elevator. "Medical room, please, Elevator!" I told it.

"Okay," it said as it brought me slowly down the levels.

I started hearing voices from floors below. As the elevator slowed before the med room, I heard Zim say, "Give that back stink-beast! I'll _die _without that!"

As a response, I heard someone else say, "All the more reason to keep it!"

The elevator came to a slow halt and the doors opened wide, to a scene I'd never thought I'd see; Dib holding Zim's PAK triumphantly, while Zim stood glaring angrily nearby, holding his arm facing away from me.

I gasped, horrified. _Why would Dib want to kill Zim?_ I thought. _Well, other than the world domination thing, of course. _

"Dib," I whispered.

He turned to me at his name. "Tess?" he asked, dumbfounded. "What are you…" his voice trailed off as Zim lunged forward and tried to grab his PAK. Without missing a beat, Dib side-stepped him not really needing to; Zim was way off.

"Wow, Zim," said Dib, looking back to him. "Did that _'medicine'_ I gave you make you this way?"

_He gave Zim medicine? What kind? With everything I have him taking, it might just kill him!_ I thought. _I can't let Zim die! Not on _my_ watch…yet. I need him alive!_

"Dib…" I repeated angrily, shaking off my thoughts. "What did you give him?"

"Oh, nothing _horrible_," he said as turned to me and grinned slightly. "Just some new concoction I made."

My mind flew through the options. _What concoction? What did he make? What are the ingredients?_ My adrenaline kicked in as I watched Zim fall to the floor with loss of breath.

"Zim," I called. He looked up to me as if to ask, _what_, as he kneeled with one hand still holding the table above his head.

"How much time do you have left on your lifeclock?" I asked in our native tongue.

He moaned and closed his eyes. "Six-thirty," he said speaking Irken also, opening his eyes again. "Six minutes and thirty seconds."

"Okay," I said, jogging over to him. I thought for a moment, found a stray wire, and plugged it into a little hole in his back, where the PAK would be, to display his lifeclock on the Computer. "There," I said as white Irken numbers counting down from ten minutes appeared in a little black box on the screen.

I walked back to Dib, but stayed a few feet away. "Dib," I addressed him in English. "Give me Zim's PAK please," I said calmly.

"No!" He rearranged it so he carried it like a human Smeet. Er, baby, I suppose. "I won't give this up! Not until my dad and I experiment on it anyway," he added.

I glanced up to the screen with Zim's lifeclock counting down. _6:04. Zim shouldn't be so weak this early on without his PAK, _I thought. "What did you give him?" I asked, still calm.

"Like I said before," Dib said, shifting the PAK underneath his right arm. "Just a little concoction."

I clenched my hands into fists by my side. "How much did you give him?" I inquired.

"Not much. I missed; it just barely touched him. But it still _did_, so I guess it injected some liquid into him."

_It? How did he miss? What was he doing? _My mind ran through all the questions I could think of. Finally deciding on one, I asked, "What happened?"

"Well, I came over to Zim's house to see why he was absent today," he started. "I would've checked on you first, but I don't know where you live. Do you live here? With Zim, I mean," he asked.

"Ye…yeah," I hesitantly replied. "Get on with the story," I told him, glancing to the lifeclock displaying 5:56.

"Yeah, anyway," he continued, waving it off. "So when I got here, Zim's little robot-dog had a friend, that I suppose was a little cat, that he was playing with—"

"Vee," I said quietly. _Where _is_ she anyway?_

He nodded. "Yeah, I think that's what he called her. And just let me into the house and showed me to Zim." He paused for a moment, thinking while staring blindly into space.

"Go on…" _I'm going to _get _those little robots…_

"Right," he said, looking back to me. "So I found Zim, looking around the room, and I shot him with this—" he pulled out a little gun-looking thing out of his back pocket which I hadn't noticed before. "My own little invention," he reminded me.

"Yeah, I got that part," I muttered as I stared at the little gun.

"And as I said earlier," he continued. "I kind of missed, but I still scratched him."

"What's it supposed to do?" I asked with a slightly awed tone in my voice, as I gazed intently at the invention.

"Actually, if you really must know," he said, adjusting it so he held it like he was going to shoot. "It's supposed to kill alien species," he said quickly as he aimed and shot something at me.

"Ack," I said as I ripped a small, rounded missile-type thing out of my neck. I tossed it aside and said, "My _Tallest_, you're annoying, Dib."

He laughed evilly. Not _quite_ as hard as Zim does, but a quiet little chuckle. I held my hand up to the spot it hit, which started to swell and bleed. Blood seemed to pour from the little hole; drops slipped through the slits between my fingers and moved in a thin, spotty stream down my arm as it dripped off my elbow onto the floor.

I glanced to Zim, who had fallen to the floor in an unconscious heap, and then looked to the lifeclock; 4:32. I glared at Dib as my neck stopped bleeding. "What is in the 'concoction,' Dib?" I asked again as I removed my hands and fingered the remaining blood on them.

He shrugged. "I really can't remember," he said sarcastically.

I took an angry breath and leaped to Dib. My hands wrapped around his neck as I slammed him up against the wall behind him and moved my face a few inches closer to his. "I'll ask _again_. What is _in _it, Dib?"

"I put…" he struggled to breathe. "It has…"

My hands gripped tighter around his neck. "Even if it _kills_ me, I'll make sure _I_ kill _you _first," I said, inching closer to him.

His eyes filled with worry. "You… wouldn't… would you?"

I nodded slightly. "Of course I—ack!" I started choking. I tried to clear my throat, but that just made it worse. I let go of Dib and both our hands went up to our own necks. He started coughing and wiped the blood from my hands off his neck as I backed away slowly. "Can't breathe…" I moaned as I fell to my knees, starting to shiver violently as I felt my throat tightening.

I began breathing again and soon after started to gag. I felt like I was going to vomit, but nothing would come out. I fell forward on my hands as I tried to regain my breath. Though kneeling on the floor not moving, I felt light-headed and dizzy. There was a tickle in my throat, so I started coughing, eventually bringing up some blood. _Dib, _I reminded myself before I blamed someone else. _This is all Dib's fault. _As my coughing spell ended, I gained double vision and my heart seemed to slow and grow louder, making me flinch at every beat. My head throbbed and my body ached as I fell to my side and passed out.

White. That's all I remember seeing that moment—the moment I died. A flash of white, soon followed by a wall of black. I seemed to be hovering in mid-air, surrounded by purple, floating zeros and ones. They flew past me and connected to each other, creating lines of numbers, lashing out; wrapping around. They formed a picture and seemed to absorb more zeros and ones, making the picture move. I couldn't decide whether I was horrified or delighted as I watched my memories unfold to me, one by one.

"Where am I?" I asked aloud. My voice echoed quietly, giving me a nervous twitch. _Why am I here? Where _am_ I? I'm dead, right?_

"Where am I? My… my…" I asked, louder, voice echoing. I was anxious to get out of there, no matter where I was.

"Pack… ack… ack…" I heard a voice echo back.

"What? What… what…" I called.

"YOUR PAK! PAK… ack…" someone answered.

"Oh," I said quietly. _WAIT! I'm in my PAK? _I thought. _If this is my PAK, then…_ "Who is this? This… is…" I called.

"Ooh… ooh… ooh…"

"WHO? Ooh… ooh…"

"YOU! Ooh… ooh…"

"ME? Ee… ee…"

"YES! Es… es…"

"HOW? Ow… ow…"

"No… oh… oh…"

"NO? Oh… oh…" I asked, confused. "THAT MAKES NO SENSE! Ense… ense…"

"I! I… I… DON'T! Don't… on't… KNOW! Oh… oh…" someone yelled irritably, just as I would.

"OH! Oh… oh…" I shouted back, waiting for the echoes to die out. "OKAY! Kay… ay…"

"NOW SHUT UP! Up… up… I'M WORKING! Erking… erking…" she screamed to me.

"OKAY! Kay… ay…" I waited for a moment, saw another flash of white, and felt as if someone pulled me, molecule by molecule, back into my body.

When I opened my eyes, I looked directly up into Dib's. He was kneeling next to me with two of his fingers pressing on my neck and Zim's PAK still underneath one arm. He looked shocked as I swatted his hand away from me and stood up.

"What… how… huh?" he asked in disbelief. "I thought you were dead?"

I just laughed and said, "It's all in the PAK, Dib," as I patted my PAK.

"What?" he asked confused. "I… I don't…"

I flicked his forehead. "Geez, you're thick."

He rubbed the spot I flicked him. "No, I… I'm just confused. What's this thing for anyway?" he asked, holding the PAK up in his hand. It started twitching.

I smiled slightly. "Actually, Dib, If you really _must_ know," I said, mimicking him. "It's our life support."

"'Our'?" he asked as the PAK in his hands shifted and seemed to stretch a little.

"Yes, Zim and me," I said nonchalantly as thin, tentacle-looking things popped out of the PAK and flopped around until they found Dib's arm.

He looked scared as the tentacles slid up his arm. "Oh," he replied, not really thinking. "What's it doing?" he asked, quickly realizing that I was a reliable source… for now.

"It's looking for a new host," I told him, glancing to the lifeclock. _3:12. I wasn't out for long. _

"Host? What do you mean, _host_?" he asked, with an edge to his voice.

"A living one, at least. You see, Dib, when Irken PAKs are removed from their host—Zim in this case—they first try to reconnect to the original. But if they can't find the original," I paused and looked to Zim, still lying on the floor. "Then they try to find another one. And when that happens," My eyes flickered back to Dib and resumed, "The new host becomes the old one."

He looked to me in confusion. "You… you mean… it's trying to… connect… to _me_?" he stuttered.

I nodded. "But it'll realize once you've died that you're not compatible with Irken PAKs. It's pretty obvious. To me, anyway," I added quickly.

His expression turned horrified. "You're _kidding,_ right?"

I got confused by the statement. I guess he must've seen my puzzled expression, because he said, "You aren't _joking_, are you?"

I shook my head. "I kid you not! Irken PAKs are our life sources. They are like our second brains; they connect to our body's _physical_ mind with neural links in the spinal cord."

He stared at me in awe. "Really?" he asked after a moment. Even with the little movement the tentacles made up his arm, he still flinched. "Who invented that?"

"I… I really don't know. I guess it's really just an advanced form of your, erm, _human_kind's minds." I shrugged.

Dib's eyes filled with wonder. "Wow…" he said after a second. The PAK's tentacles reached his shoulder and he tried to shake it down.

I glanced to the lifeclock. _2:13. I really need to move! _

I took a step toward Dib. "Now, if you don't want to become Zim," I said, reaching my hand out to him, "then you'll give his PAK back to me."

He shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Never!"

I sighed and took another step forward. "Give," I insisted.

"No," he mocked my tone as the tentacles inched up his shoulder.

I glanced to the lifeclock. _1:47. Great, _I thought. "Please, Dib," I begged.

He stood staring at me for a moment, and then said quietly, "No." He nervously took a step back as I stepped forward.

"Dib," I said calmly. "I want to tell you something," I said as he staggered backward into a bed.

He rested hesitantly against it. "Ye…yeah?"

"If you don't give me that PAK…so I can give it back to Zim…" I sauntered up to him so I was in his face. "Do I need remind you you'll turn _into_ Zim?"

"N—no," he stammered as he fell into the bed, trying to get away from me. He crawled on his free elbow, the one _not_ being infested by Zim's PAK, and almost fell off the other side.

I glanced back up to the lifeclock, which read 1:23. I cursed under my breath, looking back to Dib. "Hell, Dib, why don't I just let you be consumed by Zim's PAK, hmm? Why won't I?"

"Uhh…" My question caught him off guard. "What?"

"I could just let you become Zim and then I could easily take over this… _filthy_,spinning dirtball… So why won't I let you be consumed by Zim's PAK?"

"Because… because…" He thought for a moment. "I actually have no idea." He flinched as the tentacles reached his neck.

"Well," I said, glancing back up to the lifeclock displaying 1:04. "It's because I don't want _Zim_ in _your_ body, so I guess you could say I'm saving both you _and_ Zim."

He stared at me, coughing slightly. "Really?"

I nodded. "So give me the PAK, please."

This time, _he_ looked up to the lifeclock. "Wow, I've had this for awhile now. How long?"

"Ten minutes," I said irritably. "Now, GIVE!" I yelled at him.

He gave me a stern look. "Now, now… use your 'inside voice'…"

I slapped him. "This is _my_ home. I can yell whenever I want to."

He rubbed the cheek where I slapped him. "Ouch! Don't _slap_ me!"

"Why not?" I asked. "Give me the PAK. Now," I said as I reached out to him.

Dib swung his arm backward, shaking the PAK's tentacles down a bit. "Uh-uh. Down, girl, down."

This infuriated me. Just sparked something inside me that began the fire. It spread as I watched the seconds tick down. _52. 51._ "DIB!" I shouted, as the fire warmed my heart and my adrenaline kicked in. "Give the PAK to me RIGHT NOW!" I leaped onto him so my knees pinned his legs down, as my hands trapped his.

His eyes filled with pure fear and he trembled as he looked into mine. Tears started well up in his eyes, so he blinked and swallowed, concealing them from view. I suppose he thought I was going to do something horrible to him by the way I shouted.

_45. 44. _His eyes turned angry. "Get off me!" he shouted in my face as he struggled to push me off. I gripped his hands tighter.

_42. 41. _By the way he looked at me, I could tell that if I tried to grab the PAK from his hand, or even lift my hand for a brief _second_, he would immediately throw me off. I dared not take my eyes off his.

_36. 35. _"Dib," I said calmly, trying not to let my anger show.

"What," he said irritably, still struggling to shove me off.

"One last chance, Dib," I pleaded. "Give Zim's PAK to me."

_28. 27. _"No," he said. I started thinking, trying to find an ideal option. Thinking of something, I blinked for a long second, knowing there was no alternative except getting thrown off and running down the clock.

_24. 23. _I looked down to Dib, still trying to wriggle out of my grasp. I swallowed my pride, took a deep breath, and leaned down. My lips touched his, and he stopped struggling for a moment then tried pulling back, but after a few seconds remained motionless. As soon as he melted and lost he grip on the PAK, I pulled back and caught it before it fell.

_18. 17. _I jumped off Dib and held the PAK as I ran to Zim, hoping I could get it attached soon enough.

_15. 14. _"Zim!" I called for no apparent reason. Zim's PAK's tentacles flopped around lazily and found my shoulder. It crawled down my back and started poking _my_ PAK. My PAK pulled out tentacles of its own and started fighting with Zim's.

_12. 11. _"Stop fighting!" I said to the PAKs as they hit me in the face with their wires. It was a useless attempt.

_10. 9. _I slid next to Zim, slumped next to a table, breathing shallowly and slowly, but still breathing nonetheless.

_8. 7. _The PAKs continued to fight with each other, ignoring my futile attempts at breaking them apart.

_6. 5. _I finally ripped my PAK's tentacles away from Zim's, and had to hold them back as Zim's PAK started twitching violently.

_4. 3. _I slammed my PAK's wires back into it and started working on Zim's. I couldn't get it into his back without the tentacles back in their places.

_2. 1. _I managed to get them to slide back in at the last second and then ripped the computer's wire from Zim's back.

_0. End. _I jammed the PAK into his back and looked up to Dib. "Dib," I growled as I stood up. "You better _hope_ Zim's alive, otherwise your _head_ with be on my _ship's antenna_."

He slipped off the table, still in a daze from my kiss. "What…?"

I walked impatiently over to him and slapped him again. I pulled him right back into reality, saying, "If Zim dies, you do too!"

He immediately sprung to life. "Why do you care about Zim so much, huh? It seemed to me you hated him at first!"

I glared at him and I dared not take my eyes off his. He glared right back. We stood like this for a solid minute until I finally broke down, falling to the ground and starting to cry. "I… don't know what… to think about him!" I managed to get out between sobs.

He walked over and put his arm around my back. "It'll be okay," he comforted me. He wrapped his other arm around my shoulders, linking his fingers together as he rocked back and forth soothingly. "It's okay," he told me over and over.

I embraced him and grasped his forearm with both hands as I let out the rest of my tears. When I finished crying, I buried my face in his sleeve and muttered, "I just don't know."

"You'll figure it out," he said. He sat cross-legged, slipped one arm under my legs and the other around the middle of my back, and lifted me into his lap. I wrapped my arms willingly around his neck and again buried my face in his jacket.

_Who do I love? _I wondered as Dib lifted my chin slightly from his chest. I didn't resist as he pulled me into another kiss.

**Author's Note: Okay, well... since I don't really know who Tess really loves yet, I'd like to see what my readers want. Personally, I'm for Dib because he seems a little better than Zim in the emotional realm... but then, of course, Zim _is_ her own species... and then there's Tallest Purple who's the _leader_ of their species... so I have no idea. Please review and tell me who you want Tess to be with! Thank you!**


	12. The Blue Eyed Irken

Chapter 12: The Blue-eyed Irken

Dib cradled me in his arms for a minute, thinking. "You know," he said after a long silence, "I don't think this'll work out."

I looked up. "What do you mean? What won't?"

"This," he said, motioning to me and him. "Our… _relationship_, I guess."

I thought for a moment. "Because I'm Irken and you're human, right?"

He nodded. "It's probably against space laws or something."

I laughed and stood up slowly. "Not necessarily," I said, helping him to his feet.

"You wouldn't mind explaining something to me, would you?" he asked as he followed me to Zim.

"What's that?" I bent down and adjusted Zim's body so he laid flat.

"Your race," he said after a moment. "I don't get it."

"Get what?" I asked, not taking my eyes off Zim, still hoping for him to come back.

"Well, for starters, you and Zim are so different. Him uncaring, while you compassionate."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't compare me to Zim. We are completely different. It's not like we're brother and sister or anything."

"Okay… and if you guys need your PAKs to survive, then how do you have kids? Because, from my understanding, PAKs are mechanical, right? So you can't give birth to them…"

I laughed again. "Yes, our PAKs are mechanical. But we reproduce in Petri dishes."

He didn't say anything so I glanced up to him. He looked confused as he said, "What do you mean?"

I smiled slightly and said, "Most Irkens don't have reproductive organs. Actually, we only have two—our squeedily spooch, and our heart."

"Then how do you reproduce?" he asked again. "I'm still not getting it."

"In a Petri dish," I repeated. "Our scientists take an Irken's DNA and clone it into another being. The clone sits in a glass tube filled with some special liquid in a Smeetery until it becomes an actual smeet. When the light turns green, and the smeet is ready, a mechanical arm pulls the tube out of the hole and breaks it open. It then puts a PAK in the back of the little smeet, giving it life. That's how we reproduce."

He stood in silence for a moment. "What's a smeet?" he asked after a while.

"A smeet is a… well, I guess in human terms, a baby," I said, "except it's not born. It's manufactured."

He laughed and said, "You said '_most_ Irkens don't have reproductive organs.' What do you mean by 'most'?"

I sighed and stood up. "It's… hard to explain," I said as I motioned to the elevator and walked toward it. He followed and we both stepped inside. "Elevator," I said.

"What," it replied irritably as if I disturbed it from something important.

"Bring us to the kitchen please."

"Whatever." It shot to the house level and burst through the toilet again.

I fell to the ground, and I managed to land on feet. I steadied myself as Dib fell face-first into the floor.

We sat down at the table. I sighed again and started my story.

"Way back in the days just after the Irken race began, they all had reproductive organs—a primitive form of my current species—and had the structure of a human body, with the organs, bones, and whatnot. The leaders in that time were short males and females with blue eyes, with emotions such as love and sorrow, and they had children, who were also short."

I paused, and Dib looked at me funny. "What do height and eye colors have to do with anything?" he asked.

"I'm getting to that," I said. "There were a few males and females that were taller than everyone else, including the leaders, who decided to overthrow the royalty. The taller Irkens made a new government and created new rules. One of those new rules was that only the tallest Irkens were to be royalty. So the group Tallest, of which everyone had to address them by, picked two leaders—one male and one female—to rule. All the rest were left to die because there was no use for them, and they could not have kids; it was against the law at the time. So the royalty had children, of which were also tall.

"But the only problem was that there was only one family that could be royalty because of the law that only tall Irkens could rule, and no other families were tall. So the scientists came up with a plan—they would genetically engineer our bodies so we didn't have the reproductive organs, and just mix some of the Tallest's DNA in with the new Irken DNA. And whoever becomes taller than the rest would become the Tallest. Seems logical, right? Having the right DNA to become a leader?"

He nodded. "That's actually a pretty good idea."

I nodded too. "Exactly. But at the time, no one was sure how it would work. So the Tallest came up with a _back-up_ plan—they would also add old Irken DNA to the mix, giving some Irkens the reproductive organs—in case plan A failed. Which it didn't—it succeeded just as the scientists had hoped for, and they worked out how everything would work—of which I explained to you earlier, with the Petri dishes and things.

"But even with the Tallest's DNA in the mix, sometimes a taller Irken was a little hard to come by. Or sometimes, there was even more than one Tallest, of which we have now—two Tallests of exactly the same height, ruling together peacefully. The same goes for the 'Blue-eyed Irken'—the Irken with the reproductive organs; they were also a little hard to find, even though they were very prominent when the process started. And they aren't needed now except to keep the traditional ways going. But we also have more than one now." I paused for a moment, looking up at Dib.

"You know, don't you? Who is it?" he asked, just as I knew he would.

At that exact moment, Zim was launched out of the trash can, landing on his bad arm. "Ouch," he groaned as he stood up wearily.

"Zim," I said with a happy sigh.

He rubbed his antennae a little and smiled. "Hey Tess," he said, looking to me sitting next to Dib. "Dib," he said angrily.

I stood up. "Now, Zim, relax," I told him as he made his way over to us.

"Get away from him," he said under his breath as he grabbed my waist and pulled me behind him.

"Zim," I said irritably as he grabbed my hand in a protective manner.

"Well?" he said, not taking his eyes off Dib. "I don't want him to take _your_ PAK too."

I stood silent, unable to come back with anything, as Zim and Dib glared at each other. After about a minute of tense silence, I finally said, "Enough! Stop it, both of you!"

They both looked to me in confusion. "What?" I asked. "I'm sick of both of you glaring at each other!"

"Stay out of it, Tess," Zim said, waving me off.

"I'm already _in _it, Zim," I said mocking his tone and trying to pull my hand away from his. He gripped it tighter.

"I'd best be leaving," Dib said, glancing to our hands interlocked and then to me.

"Yeah, it'd be best," Zim said, still not taking his eyes off Dib.

Dib started walking to the door and Zim called, "Gir!"

Gir came sprinting from behind the TV with Vee close behind. "Yes, my lord!" he said as he saluted and his eyes turned red.

Zim nodded to Dib. "Escort him out," he said curtly.

"Yes, sir!" Gir jumped heroically to Dib, grabbed him by the arm, and threw him out the door onto the sidewalk.

As we watched Dib leave, Zim let my hand go and sat down at the table, in the chair Dib was sitting in. "Why was he still here?" Zim asked, resting his head in one hand as he faced the window away from me, most likely watching the sky cloud up.

I sat down next to him and said simply, "I was explaining something to him."

"Like what?" he asked, still looking to the window, playing with the knitted place mats on the table with one hand.

"Our race," I said. "He didn't understand."

"Good, he shouldn't have. I assume you told him something. What did you tell him?" His free hand still played with the place mat.

"About the history—about the Tallests and the Blue-eyed Irken," I said, watching his hand fiddle with the little frayed knitting on the edge.

"You didn't tell him, did you? About whom it is?"

His perfect grammar surprised me. "No, I didn't," I said after recovering from Zim's grammar attack.

"Don't lie to me, Tessa," he said sternly.

"I'm not," I said, grabbing his hand with both of mine. He folded my hands in both of his and held on like I would slip away if he let go. "I was about to, though," I added. Kissing Dib made me think. _Do I really love Dib? _I thought. _No, I should hate him. And I do. He hurt Zim! My ally, my colleague—my dear friend Zim! How could he?_

Zim sighed and stood up. "Don't tell him, Tessa," he said simply and then walked off, climbing back into the trash can.

I sat at the table, thinking. _Do I or do I not tell Dib, my supposedly greatest enemy, who the Blue-eyed Irken is?_ I asked myself. I watched Gir and Vee play in the living room, slamming into walls and bouncing gleefully on their heads.

Eventually, I stood up, realizing I was exhausted. I sat down on the couch and watched the two little robots start dancing together, bringing their energy level to a minimal. Gir put his hands on Vee's hips and Vee wrapped her arms around his neck.

They spun in slow little circles to imaginary music. Vee rested her head on Gir's shoulder and closed her eyes as she sighed happily.

I smiled a little. "Robot love," I muttered. As soon as I stood up to give them some privacy, they both collapsed to the floor, sleeping.

I laughed and shook my head as I walked toward the kitchen. I strolled around aimlessly for a moment, deciding what to do. _Do I go down to the lab to face Zim? Or do I stay up here and watch robots sleep?_

I decided to go down to the lab, climbing into the trash can. It was much better than the toilet.

"Elevator," I said. "Find Zim."

"Finding Zim," the elevator said, irritated. "He's in the medical room."

"Go there." It did as it was told, and spit me out again.

"I really need to get that fixed," I muttered as I pushed up off the ground. I dusted myself and looked around for Zim.

I found him sitting on the floor, with a syringe in one hand, about to inject something into his vein.

"Zim!" I cried, running up to him and snatching the syringe away from him. "What on _Irk_ are you _doing_?"

He looked up at me unhappily. "Give that back," he requested.

I shook my head. "What is it?"

He crossed his arms and pouted as he muttered something I couldn't hear.

"What?" I asked.

"PAIN KILLER!" he shouted.

As a reflex, I slapped him. "If you wanted some, you could've asked!" I checked the amount in the syringe. "This is _way_ too much! You could've killed yourself!"

He stood up angrily and huffed, "Zim needs help from no one! NO ONE, I SAY! NO ONE!"

"Oh yeah? Well what would've happened to you when Dib stole you PAK, hmm? If I wasn't here?" I furiously shouted.

Without missing a beat, he shouted back, "Then I would've died!"

I stood back, crossed my arms, and grinned slightly. Realizing what he just said, he closed his eyes and counted to ten.

"Whatever!" Zim irritably stormed off. I threw the syringe at him, hitting him in the back of the head with the blunt end.

He rubbed the spot I hit him but kept walking. When he came to his bed, he ripped the covers off and impatiently climbed in. He heaved the blanket back on him and turned away from me.

I stuck my head up in the air and walked toward the elevator. As I stepped inside and the doors closed, I told the elevator, "Lock all medical supplies in medical room with password only access."

"What's the password?" Elevator asked as it popped out an Irken keyboard for me to type it in.

Without thinking, I typed in 'Zim is a jerk,' exactly what I was thinking. I shook my head, deleted the letters, and typed in 'Love,' thinking Zim would never get it because he's not capable of such emotions.

I laughed slightly and hit 'Enter.'

"All medical supplies password locked," Elevator retorted.

"Good," I said, nodding. "Now, up to the kitchen."

It shot up to the kitchen and launched me out of the toilet. I groaned irritably and walked through the living room, taking special care to dance silently around the sleeping robots and to grab my disguise.

I slipped out the door as soon as I slid my wig and contacts on, and took a breath of fresh air. "Ah," I sighed, looking up to the pink, sun-setting sky.

I started walking. To where, I'm not sure. But I walked until it was dark, and then kept walking. I ended up wrapping around the edge of town and then back home because it was just too cold to stay outside. I slipped back in the door late at night, with the Earth moon high up in the sky, full and bright.

Gir and Vee remained on the floor and Zim was not on the house level at least. I stepped in the elevator and quietly told it to bring me down to the medical room, where the beds were. It went down slowly, almost like it was tired, and just simply opened its doors instead of shooting me out. I silently thanked the elevator and stepped out.

Zim was asleep, curled up in the bed shivering under the blanket. Instead of climbing into my own bed, I just grabbed my blanket, draped it over Zim's, and climbed in with him to warm up, thinking I wouldn't stay long. He didn't seem to mind; instead, he welcomed the newfound heat. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was Zim waking up and wrapping me in his warmth.

**Author's Note: Yo peoples! Sorry I haven't posted in a while… I've been busy. Yes, I can continue to use that excuse because I've had one of my (BESTEST) friends' books (which would be easy for me to finish in less than a day's worth of reading…) for FOUR WEEKS on Tuesday. I've been (and I don't use this word often) ÜBER busy. And yes, that **_**is **_**how you spell that. With the two dots over da 'u.' Anyway, I am sooooo sorry this chapter doesn't have lotsa action! But that's okie dokie cuz last chap did! And if I write the next one the way I wanna (and my inner voice named Jessica agrees) then that one will also have lotsa action! YAYZ! Ooh, cookies…. I'M NORMAL! (wow, been a while since I signed off with that, huh?) …review please? YAYZ! Oh, and HAPPY BDAY TO MY BEST GUY FRIEND, SPENCER! (I know he doesn't read my fanfic, but oh well. He still likes IZ, so that counts.) …I'M NORMAL! (AgAiN. :P) **


	13. Fine

**Author's Note: I'm sooooooooooooooooo sorry! I've really really really really REALLY wanted to finish this chapter, but I've had a serious case of writer's block. If you could die from said disease, I'd have been in a coma for about 5 weeks. Yeahhhhh… that's pretty much how I feel… I'M IN A WRITER'S COMA! That is sad :',( *sobs* when can I come out of this horrible imprisonment? When I post this very very very VERY short chapter of which I wrote before I contracted Writer's Block (and of which I was hoping to add to, but couldn't. too busy being in a writer's coma). And when people give me ideas via REVIEWS! So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review….! Otherwise, I'll deny Gir cookies. And you won't like Gir when his cookies are being held captive. BBBEEEWWWAAARRREEE! (and now, onto the…[dun dun duuunnnn] STORY!)**

Chapter 13: Fine

When I woke up, Zim still had his arm over me. I tried to slip silently out of the bed, but he was already awake and gripped my arm almost angrily.

"Good morning," he said.

"Morning," I responded. "School today?" I asked.

"If you want to. I don't really care. But I think we overslept," he said, staring off into the distance.

I shrugged and slipped out of bed. "We could go," I said, "but only if you feel up to it. If you don't, we'll stay home."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he assured me, getting up. He flexed his muscles weakly. "I'm fine," he repeated.

I felt his forehead. "You _seem _fine," I muttered. My hand slid off his forehead and onto his cheek, then off his chin in one soft, swift motion.

He nodded. "I'll be fine."

I shrugged and rubbed my antennae slightly as I walked to the elevator. Getting launched out of the toilet again, I did a flip in midair and landed on my feet on the kitchen table, throwing my hands into the air in victory. "Woo!" I called.

Gir and Vee started clapping after watching the entire thing. "ENCORE! ENCORE!" they shouted.

"I doubt I could do that again," I said, climbing down from the table, and being as uncoordinated as I usually am, my foot slipped out from under me and I fell on my face.

Gir and Vee directed their attention back to the TV, acting like they didn't see anything. _I guess that's one good thing with malfunctioning SIR units, _I thought. _They don't really understand what's happening._

**Author's Note: Yes, yes… I know. Super short chapter…. :( I don't like it as much as you. So please review! I need I-D-E-A-S! thank yous! :) **

**(and second note to anyone that read this chapter earlier...: sorry about that little blurb below that note UP↑THERE [hahaha, arrow]... one of my friends wrote that little thing below the actual chapter, and i just left it there and forgot about it... so sorry for any confusions this may have caused. :))**


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